Meditation and attention: A comparison of the effects of concentrative and mindfulness meditation on sustained attention
Elizabeth R. Valentine, Philip L. G. Sweet
Mental Health Religion & Culture May 1, 1999 DOI: 10.1080/13674679908406332 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractBoth concentrative and mindfulness meditators outperformed non-meditators on a test of sustained attention, with long-term meditators performing better than short-term meditators. Mindfulness meditators were superior to concentrative meditators when the stimulus was unexpected, but no difference emerged when the stimulus was expected. The findings suggest that different attentional mechanisms underlie the two types of meditation, with implications for mental health.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Meditators and non-meditators |
| Intervention | mindfulness meditation |
| Citations | 408 |
| Key finding | Both concentrative and mindfulness meditators showed superior sustained attention compared to controls, with mindfulness meditators performing better on unexpected stimuli. |
Abstract
Abstract The performance of concentrative and mindfulness meditators on a test of sustained attention (Wilkins' counting test) was compared with controls. Both groups of meditators demonstrated superior performance on the test of sustained attention in comparison with controls, and long-term meditators were superior to short-term meditators. Mindfulness meditators showed superior performance in comparison with concentrative meditators when the stimulus was unexpected but there was no difference between the two types of meditators when the stimulus was expected. The results are discussed in relation to the attentional mechanisms involved in the two types of meditation and implications drawn for mental health.