Mindfulness and Metacognitive Monitoring Accuracy in Young Meditation Practitioners Compared to Non-Practitioners
Mindfulness July 13, 2026 Regula Neuenschwander, Donna Bryce, Janina Eberhart
Metacognition, the ability to monitor one's own cognitive processes, is proposed as a mechanism underlying mindfulness, but few studies have tested this objectively. In a sample of 124 participants (61 experienced mindfulness meditators and 63 non-practitioners), monitoring accuracy was assessed using a visuo-spatial working memory task with confidence judgments. While participants overall showed significant monitoring accuracy, no differences emerged between meditators and non-practitioners. Meditators reported higher trait mindfulness on the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, but within this group, no features of meditation practice correlated with monitoring accuracy. The authors suggest the null findings may relate to the specific type of monitoring assessed and discuss conceptual differences between meta-awareness in contemplative traditions and metacognition.