Achievement goal theory has emerged as a predominant framework for understanding students´ achievement motivation. Interestingly, in the literature of achievement goal researches, most researchers have adopted the relative ability to define approach performance goal. In this study an attempt has been made to integrate the varied definitions of performance goal and to differentiate among relative ability goal, extrinsic rewards goal and others’ expectations goal. The main purposes are addressed in this study: First, to verify the goodness of fit between empirically observed data and the confirmatory factory analysis model of approach performance goals proposed by the authors. Second, to analyze the relations between students’ approach performance goal and adaptive patterns of learning. The participants were 799 junior high school students. The instruments used in this study included Approach Performance Goal Scale and Adaptive Patterns of Learning Scale. The following results were obtained: (a) the maintained model fit the observed data well and three kinds of approach performance goals were distinguishable constructs, and (b) relative ability goal and others’ expectations goal positively predicted junior high school students’ adaptive patterns of learning. Conversely, the extrinsic rewards goal negatively predicted students’ adaptive patterns of learning. Moreover, the others’ expectations goal was the strongest predictor of students’ adaptive patterns of learning than relative ability goal and extrinsic rewards goal. Based on the findings in this research, implications for theory, practice and future research were discussed.