Brief mindfulness-based meditation enhances the speed of learning following positive prediction errors

Brief mindfulness-based meditation accelerates learning from positive outcomes and increases exploratory decision-making under uncertainty. In a probabilistic selection task with computational modeling, participants who meditated showed faster learning rates after positive prediction errors, a greater tendency to explore rather than exploit choices, and more cautious responses compared to a no-meditation control condition. These effects reveal how even short meditative practices can shape learning and decision-making processes, suggesting potential for mindfulness-based interventions to reduce biases in social-cognitive functioning.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that mindfulness-based meditation facilitates basic aspects of cognition, including memory and attention. Further developing this line of inquiry, here we considered the possibility that similar effects may extend to another core psychological process-instrumental learning. To explore this matter, in combination with a probabilistic selection task, computational modelling (i.e., reinforcement drift diffusion model analysis) was adopted to establish whether and how brief mindfulness-based meditation influences learning under conditions of uncertainty (i.e., choices based on the perceived likelihood of positive and negative outcomes). Three effects were observed. Compared with performance in the control condition (i.e., no meditation), mindfulness-based meditation (1) accelerated the rate of learning following positive prediction errors; (2) elicited a preference for the exploration (vs. exploitation) of choice selections; and (3) increased response caution. Collectively, these findings elucidate the pathways through which brief meditative experiences impact learning and decision-making, with implications for interventions designed to debias aspects of social-cognitive functioning using mindfulness-based meditation.