Letting it go: The interplay between mind wandering, mindfulness, and creativity.
Aswini Madhira, Narayanan Srinivasan
Progress in Brain Research 2023 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2022.12.003 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Convergent thinking Creativity Divergent thinking Mind wandering |
| Key points | The chapter argues that mind wandering is shaped by the type of creative task being performed, reporting evidence that mind-wandering tendencies were higher during a divergent creativity task than during a convergent one when task difficulty was manipulated. It further proposes that studying meditators' cognition can offer insights into creative thought processes. |
Abstract
A creative idea is always appreciated. However, it is still unclear as to what helps people in coming up with creative ideas. The current chapter explores how mind wandering, mindfulness and meditation influence creative ideation. Most specifically, we explore the cognition behind each of these faculties and how they interact to enable us in navigating across our internal and external environments constantly. In this chapter, we also discuss an empirical study that examines mind-wandering tendencies in two types of creativity tasks-convergent and divergent, by manipulating task difficulty. The findings of our study provide evidence in support of the process theories that indicate mind wandering is based on the nature of creative tasks being performed and mind wandering tendencies are higher in the divergent compared to the convergent task. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion on how understanding the cognition of meditators provides insights to creative thought process and explores avenues of study for such complex and subjective cognitive faculties.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 27
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Mechanisms of mindfulness Journal of Clinical Psychology December 29, 2005
- Mental Training Affects Distribution of Limited Brain Resources PLoS Biology May 4, 2007
- The wandering brain: Meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies of mind-wandering and related spontaneous thought processes Neuroimage February 25, 2015
and 22 more in the library