Contemplative Practices and Mental Training: Prospects for American Education
Richard J Davidson, John Dunne, Jacquelynne S Eccles, Adam Engle, Mark Greenberg, Patricia Jennings, Amishi Jha, Thupten Jinpa, Linda Lantieri, David Meyer, Robert W Roeser, David Vago
Child Development Perspectives April 23, 2012 DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-8606.2012.00240.x via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA set of mental skills and socio-emotional dispositions—including self-regulation of emotion and attention, self-representations, and prosocial traits like empathy and compassion—are central to 21st-century education. These qualities can be strengthened through systematic contemplative practice, which induces plastic changes in brain function and structure, supporting prosocial behavior and academic success in young people. The authors call for focused programmatic research to determine which forms and frequencies of practice are most efficacious for which children and adolescents, and to document the neural changes induced.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 320 |
| Key finding | Contemplative practice can strengthen self-regulatory skills and prosocial dispositions through plastic changes in brain function and structure, supporting prosocial behavior and academic success in young people. |
Abstract
Drawing upon research in neuroscience, cognitive science, developmental psychology and education, as well as scholarship from contemplative traditions concerning the cultivation of positive development, we highlight a set of mental skills and socio-emotional dispositions that we believe are central to the aims of education in the 21(st) century. These include self-regulatory skills associated with emotion and attention, self-representations, and prosocial dispositions such as empathy and compassion. These positive qualities and dispositions can be strengthened through systematic contemplative practice. Such practice induces plastic changes in brain function and structure, supporting prosocial behavior and academic success in young people. These putative beneficial consequences call for focused programmatic research to better characterize which forms and frequencies of practice are most efficacious for which types of children and adolescents. Results from such research may help refine training programs to maximize their effectiveness at different ages and to document the changes in neural function and structure that might be induced.