Effects of brief focused-attention and loving-kindness meditation on tacit social coordination, on-task thought, and other-orientation
Lionel Alfred Newman, Ming Cao, Susanne Täuber, Marieke K. van Vugt
PsyArXiv February 15, 2024 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/ymr6w (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study |
|---|---|
| Population | Participant dyads performing a coordination task |
| Interventions | focused-attention meditation loving-kindness meditation neutral control |
| Duration | Brief (~10 minute) interventions |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Brief focused-attention and loving-kindness meditation interventions did not significantly change mean coordination performance or thought-probe responses compared to a neutral control, though loving-kindness meditation marginally improved trial-by-trial performance gains. Dyads performed significantly better and converged more on shared decision rules when other-oriented than when self-oriented, and on-task thought was associated with better initial-trial performance than mind-wandering. |
Abstract
In our previous study (Newman et al., in press, SCAN), dyad performance in a coordination task was shown to be amenable to manipulations of processes that underpin perspective-taking, namely working memory. When we diminished resources commonly implicated in observational perspective-taking, coordination performance also diminished. In this study, we expand on these findings to test whether performance could be improved by bolstering such resources. Participant dyads performed an iterated turn-based pure coordination task before and after one of three brief (~10 minute) interventions: focused-attention meditation (which has been shown to improve working memory), loving-kindness meditation (which increases integration of self- and other-oriented perspectives), or a neutral control. Using intermittent thought probes, we also assessed the degree to which participants across interventions engaged in mind-wandering, as well as the degree to which their attention was oriented towards either self-generated or other-generated actions. We found no significant differences in the effects of the interventions on mean coordination performance or thought probe responses. The loving-kindness meditation marginally enhanced trial-by-trial improvement in performance time-series when compared to the control. Dyads performed significantly better when other-oriented and showed greater convergence on shared decision rules over time than when self-oriented. On-task thought marginally decreased the number of trials needed for participants to align their responses, with significantly better performance on initial trials when on-task compared to when mind-wandering. This study demonstrates the particular importance of orienting attention beyond self-generated response in order to mutually adapt actions and mental states to achieve shared goals in iterated social coordination.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cites 13
- Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering Psychological Science March 28, 2013
- Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. Emotion October 1, 2008
- A systematic review of the neurophysiology of mindfulness on EEG oscillations Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 2015
- Loving-kindness meditation: a tool to improve healthcare provider compassion, resilience, and patient care Journal of Compassionate Health Care September 26, 2014
- The role of mindfulness on theta inter-brain synchrony during cooperation feedback processing: An EEG-based hyperscanning study. International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHP July 17, 2023
and 8 more in the library