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Performance-Based Tests of Attention and Memory in Long-Term Mindfulness Meditators and Demographically Matched Nonmeditators

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Abstract

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.

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Correspondence to Ruth A. Baer.

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Lykins, E.L.B., Baer, R.A. & Gottlob, L.R. Performance-Based Tests of Attention and Memory in Long-Term Mindfulness Meditators and Demographically Matched Nonmeditators. Cogn Ther Res 36, 103–114 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-010-9318-y

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