Item List

The respondents only used the left half of the response scale to answer item 11, answering half with "Never true" and half with "Sometimes true". The five respondents who answered "Never true" either explained that they were not afraid of not being able to do something or that they would not say of themselves that they could only do a little:

• “I'm never actually afraid of it. I don't think it's bad if my friends notice that I can't do something. Today, for example, I was riding a unicycle, and I couldn't do it at all or not as well as my friend. But I didn't care. And so did she.” (TP01, 8 years old, 3rd grade)
• “I'm not actually bad, so nobody can notice how little I can do.” (TP04, 10 years old, 5th grade)
• “I can't do that little. That's why you don't actually have to be afraid of it. So actually 'never'.“ (TP08, 10 years old, 5th grade)

The five respondents who answered “Sometimes true” explained that it is sometimes uncomfortable when you can't do something and others notice it:

• “That's only true sometimes, but only in one subject, math. I wouldn't care with my friends, but with others in my class, boys or something, I would.” (TP02, 11 years, 6th grade)
• “I was thinking about situations such as when I try out a sport that a friend does. And then it's like I can't do it at all or don't understand anything. That is then uncomfortable.“ (TP10, 11 years old, 6th grade)

The majority of respondents (n = 8) answered item 13 with “Never true”, while one respondent each selected “Sometimes true” (TP01) and “Often true” (TP10). Except for respondent 10, the respondents showed a homogeneous understanding of the item and in all cases the reasons given by the respondents matched their answers. Respondents who answered “Never true” stated that they had great confidence in their abilities:

• “For example, if I'm good at running in PE class and then there's the long jump, then I'm confident that I'm good at that too.” (TP06, 9 years old, 4th grade)
• “My parents always say there's nothing you can't do. It's just things you've never practiced before. I know that I could actually do anything and I'm actually confident enough to do pretty much anything.” (TP04, 10 years old, 5th grade)

Respondent 1 explained that she doubts her abilities from time to time and therefore answered “Sometimes true”:

• “Most of the time, I know that I can do something well. But sometimes I don't trust myself to do things properly.” (TP01, 8 years old, 3rd grade)

Respondent 10 (11 years old, 6th grade) interpreted the phrase “I don't have any confidence in myself” not as “having confidence in my own abilities”, but as “having the confidence to do something” and was unsure whether the item referred to the school or out-of-school context. In the end, the out-of-school context seemed more appropriate for the wording, which is why she answered, “Often true” and explained that she often did not dare to do things and quickly became afraid:

• TP10: “Does that refer to the school or in general?”
• INT: “How would you understand it?”
• TP10: “I would rather understand it as not referring to school. Outside of school, I can think of more situations where I don't have the confidence to do something. At school, for example, I don't have the confidence to put my hand up. Apart from that, there are lots of things that some people take for granted, but which I don't trust myself to do or where I quickly become afraid. For example, if I'm watching a movie that's too thrilling for me, I don't want to continue watching it. Even though I know it's just a movie. But then it's too scary for me.”
• INT: “What if you had only thought about situations at school?”
• TP10: “That's like question 10. It's never actually the case that I don't have the confidence to put my hand up, for example.”

As with item 9, respondent 03 noted that the presupposition “Although I have often achieved good grades [...]” did not apply to her. She then answered the item from the perspective of the few situations in which she had received good grades:

• “Again, it says something about the good grades. In the cases where I achieved good grades or performances, I thought I could do much better. So rather the exact opposite [of this statement].” (TP03, 12 years old, 7th grade, answer: Never true)

Almost all respondents answered item 15 with “Never true” (n = 8). One respondent answered, “Sometimes true” and one left the item unanswered (TP06). The respondents' explanations pointed out two problems with the item. Three respondents stated that it was unclear to them what the statement was getting at. One of the respondents left the item unanswered:

• “What does ‘I often believe that I have deceived my teacher about my abilities’ mean? [...] Maybe that you didn't write something yourself, but copied it from someone else? I don't know, I would leave that open now. Otherwise, I might mark the wrong answer.” (TP06, 9 years old, 4th grade, answer: No answer)
• “I don't understand this: ‘I often believe that I have deceived my teachers about my abilities’. Does this mean that you don't put your hand up in class and then get a good grade in the test? Then I would say 'never'. I actually always put my hand up in class.” (TP07, 9 years old, 4th grade, answer: Never true)
• “I must think about this one a bit. I find this the most difficult of all the questions. The teachers actually like me, I don't pretend anything to them. [...] I think it's about whether you're pretending to your teachers or not. Someone who really only tries to impress teachers, who pretends to please them, would certainly answer 'Always true'.” (TP05, 13 years old, 7th grade, answer: Sometimes true)

Six of the remaining seven respondents interpreted the item to mean that the teachers had deceived themselves and not that they had deceived the teachers:

• “I didn't really understand that. I understood it to mean that if you couldn't do something before but then learned a lot, you suddenly could do it and that surprised the teacher.” (TP01, 8 years old, 3rd grade, answer: Never true)
• “I understand that, for example, I got a bad grade and then a good one. And my teachers then thought that I was rather bad, and after the good grade they no longer think that.” (TP02, 11 years old, 6th grade, answer: Never true)
• “I have never thought about that, that my teachers were wrong about my abilities.” (TP08, 10 years old, 5th grade, answer: Never true)

Respondent 04 was the only one to interpret the item as being about whether she herself had deceived the teacher. However, even this respondent could not imagine how deception could take place in the context of an assessment:

• “I think that if I've done something and the teachers have corrected everything correctly, then it can't be better than I was. So, I can't have deceived them.” (TP04, 10 years old, 5th grade, answer: Never true)