Performance-Based Tests of Attention and Memory in Long-Term Mindfulness Meditators and Demographically Matched Nonmeditators
Cognitive Therapy and Research
Format:
Journal Article
Publication Year:
n.d.
Pages:
103-114
Sources ID:
21619
Visibility:
Private
Zotero Collections:
Contemplation by Applied Subject, Cognition and Contemplation, Psychology and Contemplation, Science and Contemplation
Abstract:
(Show)
Several authors have argued that because mindfulness training involves repeated practice of the self-regulation of attention, it should lead to measurable improvements in attentional skills and related memory processes. Although a few studies have shown relationships between mindfulness training and performance-based tests of attention and memory, findings are mixed. In the present study, a sample of 33 adults with a long-term mindfulness meditation practice (average duration of 6 years) was compared with a demographically matched sample of nonmeditators on several widely used tests of attention and memory functioning, including sustained attention, attention switching, inhibition of elaborative processing, working memory, and short- and long-term memory. Group differences were nonsignificant for all of the attentional tasks. The only significant group differences were in short-term memory (both free and cued recall) and long-term memory (free recall only). Results suggest that the nature of the attentional and memory processing that is cultivated by mindfulness training requires clarification.