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The Effect of Mindfulness on Cognitive Reflection and Reasoning

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Abstract

Objectives

Cognitive decoupling (the ability to distinguish supposition from belief and run thought experiments) is considered one of the key mechanisms in mindfulness, cognitive reflection and reasoning. Therefore, the present study examined whether a brief mindfulness exercise that explicitly encourages cognitive decoupling can increase cognitive reflection and reasoning.

Methods

A total of 156 first- and second-year undergraduate students were randomly allocated to either a mindfulness or control condition, before listening to a 15-min audio recording. The mindfulness audio was a recording of the leaves on a stream exercise that focussed on how to dissociate from thoughts (decentring), whereas the control audio was a recording of a book prologue. Cognitive reflection and reasoning were measured through the expanded cognitive reflection test and a syllogistic reasoning test, both of which encourage an incorrect automatic response rather than a correct rational response. The five-facet mindfulness questionnaire-short form and the rational-experiential inventory were also administered as trait measures of mindfulness and thinking style (intuitive or rational), respectively.

Results

The results showed no significant difference between the mindfulness and control conditions on either of the cognitive tests. However, there was a significant positive correlation between trait mindfulness and trait rationality (r = 0.56). Further analyses showed that the mindfulness subscales of observing, describing, detaching, and acting mindfully were all significant predictors of trait rationality.

Conclusions

Trait mindfulness and trait rationality are moderately associated, although more research is required to determine whether mindfulness training can increase cognitive reflection and reasoning.

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Data Availability

The data for the study is available from the first author on request.

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Funding

This study was funded by a Doctoral Research Scholarship awarded by City, University of London.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, City, University of London, London, UK

    Stephanie T. Farrar, Kielan Yarrow & Katy Tapper

Authors
  1. Stephanie T. Farrar
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  2. Kielan Yarrow
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  3. Katy Tapper
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Contributions

STF: designed and executed the study, performed part of the date analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. KY: assisted with the data analysis, wrote part of the results and edited the final manuscript. KT: collaborated with the design of the study and edited the final manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephanie T. Farrar.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the British Psychological Society and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Ethical approval was granted by the Psychology Department Research Ethics Committee at City, University of London.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Farrar, S.T., Yarrow, K. & Tapper, K. The Effect of Mindfulness on Cognitive Reflection and Reasoning. Mindfulness 11, 2150–2160 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01429-z

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