Skip to content

Mindfulness-based stress reduction is linked with an improved Cognitive Reflection Test score

Léa Lachaud, Baptiste Jacquet, Maxime Bourlier, Jean Baratgin

Frontiers in Psychology October 3, 2023 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1272324 (opens in new tab)

Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational study with a pre-post training comparison Peer reviewed
Sample size 36
Population Participants registered in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training
Intervention Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training
Duration 8 weeks of training
Measures Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT)
Topics Meditation
Key findings Participants who had completed 8 weeks of MBSR training scored better on the Cognitive Reflection Test than those who had not yet trained. The authors argue this is coherent with their hypothesis that mindfulness training reduces the relative weight of initial intuitions and facilitates deliberate thinking.

Abstract

Initially, dual-process theories suggested that the existence of two different cognitive systems explained why many participants do not find the correct answer in many reasoning tasks. The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) is one such task. It contains three questions with incorrect answers (typically associated with intuition and thus system 1 which processes information automatically) and correct answers (typically associated with deliberate thinking and thus system 2 which involves the conscious processing of information). More recent theories suggest system 1 is responsible for both incorrect and correct responses, with system 2 being used to resolve the conflict between these different intuitions. Since mindfulness training improves self-regulation and cognitive flexibility, we believe it could improve CRT scores by reducing the relative weight of initial intuitions by strengthening alternative intuitions, thus increasing the probability of triggering deliberate reasoning. To test this hypothesis, we recruited 36 participants, all registered in the same Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training. Of those 36 participants, 18 answered the CRT before the training and 18 answered it after 8 weeks of training. Results show that participants who followed MBSR training had better CRT scores than those without training. This is coherent with our hypothesis that mindfulness training could reduce the relative weight of initial intuitions and facilitate deliberate thinking.

Comparable studies

Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients 2003 Pre-post intervention study n = 59
Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample 2010 Pre-post intervention study
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students 2003 Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study n = 302
Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls 2011 Controlled trial with wait-list control group n = 60
The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents 2011 Within-group waitlist controlled trial n = 22

Citations in the library

Cites 11

and 6 more in the library

Related reading

Explore topics

Meditation