Abstract
Mindfulness meditation has received a great deal of scientific interest in recent years. Of interest to the current study, mindfulness meditation training has been shown to improve sustained attention (Morrison, Gooldarran, Rogers, & Jha, 2014), decision making (Hafenbrack, Kinias, & Barsade, 2014), working memory (Mzarek, Franklin, Phillips, Baird, & Schooler, 2013) and reduce the impact of stress on working memory performance (Banks, Welhaf, & Srour, 2015; Jha, Stanley, Kiyonaga, Wong, & Gelfand, 2010). The improvement in working memory performance is important due to the relationship between working memory and fluid intelligence (Conway, Kane, & Engle, 2003), reasoning (Kyllonen & Christal, 1990), and reading comprehension (Daneman & Merikle, 1996). In this study, one hundred undergraduates from NSU were randomly assigned either to a mindfulness training condition, relaxation training condition, or a control condition. Participants in the meditation and relaxation conditions completed a 2-week at home training in meditation or relaxation, respectively. Following the 2-week intervention, differences between the conditions were observed on a sustained attention task, F (2, 73) = 5.40, p <.01, such that individuals in the mindfulness meditation condition demonstrated higher sustained attention task performance than individuals in the control condition, t = -3.29873, p <.01, but not individuals in the relaxation condition, p >.05. However, no differences were observed on working memory task performance or rates of mind wandering. These findings suggest that a brief, at-home mindfulness meditation practice may improve performance on tasks requiring sustained attention.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Jonathan Banks
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-8-2016 1:00 PM
End Date
4-8-2016 5:30 PM
Improving Mental Fitness: The Impact of Mindfulness Meditation Training on Sustained Attention and Working Memory
Alvin Sherman Library
Mindfulness meditation has received a great deal of scientific interest in recent years. Of interest to the current study, mindfulness meditation training has been shown to improve sustained attention (Morrison, Gooldarran, Rogers, & Jha, 2014), decision making (Hafenbrack, Kinias, & Barsade, 2014), working memory (Mzarek, Franklin, Phillips, Baird, & Schooler, 2013) and reduce the impact of stress on working memory performance (Banks, Welhaf, & Srour, 2015; Jha, Stanley, Kiyonaga, Wong, & Gelfand, 2010). The improvement in working memory performance is important due to the relationship between working memory and fluid intelligence (Conway, Kane, & Engle, 2003), reasoning (Kyllonen & Christal, 1990), and reading comprehension (Daneman & Merikle, 1996). In this study, one hundred undergraduates from NSU were randomly assigned either to a mindfulness training condition, relaxation training condition, or a control condition. Participants in the meditation and relaxation conditions completed a 2-week at home training in meditation or relaxation, respectively. Following the 2-week intervention, differences between the conditions were observed on a sustained attention task, F (2, 73) = 5.40, p <.01, such that individuals in the mindfulness meditation condition demonstrated higher sustained attention task performance than individuals in the control condition, t = -3.29873, p <.01, but not individuals in the relaxation condition, p >.05. However, no differences were observed on working memory task performance or rates of mind wandering. These findings suggest that a brief, at-home mindfulness meditation practice may improve performance on tasks requiring sustained attention.
