Mindfulness and Mind-Wandering in Older Adults: Implications for Behavioral Performance
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Date
2015-03-25
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Abstract
Mind-wandering (MW) is an attentional shift from the task at hand to internally generated thoughts. Although common, MW is associated with decreased performance on tasks requiring sustained attention and executive control. In juxtaposition to MW, mindfulness is attending to the present moment nonjudgmentally. Recent studies of both mindfulness disposition and mindfulness training provide evidence for associations between higher levels of mindfulness and both decreased MW and improved cognitive performance. Interestingly, researchers have found that our tendency to mind wander decreases and mindfulness disposition increases with age. Our study further examines the association between mindfulness and MW in an ageing population. Older adults (age 60-74) completed measures of dispositional mindfulness; cognitive control and sustained attention; and MW. The Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale (MAAS) was used as a self-report mindfulness disposition measure. Two computerized tasks were also administered: the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), and the word version of the Continuous Performance Task (CPT). MW was assessed using a probe-caught method during both tasks. This study is in progress and preliminary analyses were conducted on approximately half of the desired total sample. It is hypothesized that dispositional mindfulness will be negatively related to MW episodes and reaction times to MW probes; preliminary analyses found these relationships to be significant in the CPT task. In addition, we predict MW will be associated with decreased accuracy and greater variability of reaction time; preliminary analysis revealed a marginally significant correlation between sensitivity scores and proportion of reported off-task thought during the CPT task. Lastly, higher levels of dispositional mindfulness are expected to accompany increased accuracy and lower variability of reaction time; preliminary analyses found a significant association between mindfulness and sensitivity in the SART and variability of reaction time in both tasks.
Description
Social and Behavioral Sciences (The Ohio State University Denman Undergraduate Research Forum)
Keywords
Mindfulness, Mind-wandering, Aging, Cognitive Control, Behavioral Performance