“And Now Close Your Eyes or Lower Your Gaze”: Exploring Novice Meditators and Their Attentional Processes During Meditation
Isabella Sprawson, Jeffrey S. Wood, Michail Mantzios
Journal of Cognitive Enhancement May 30, 2020 DOI: 10.1007/s41465-020-00175-3 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Measures | Eye-tracking (fixation durations, fixation counts), state mindfulness scores, state anxiety, HEXACO-60-PI |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 6 |
| Key findings | Participants meditating with a blank screen showed shorter fixation durations and higher state mindfulness scores than in two eyes-open conditions. Fixation counts decreased in the blank-screen condition but not significantly, state anxiety reductions did not reach significance, and the six personality types did not differ significantly between conditions. |
Abstract
Abstract Brief mindfulness meditation practices are associated with a wealth of benefits; however, factors that may influence the success of meditation sessions have rarely been explored. The present study explored the effects of the visual environment as a factor of successful meditation. Eye-tracking techniques were employed to objectively measure attention within three attention-deviating conditions with basic meditation instructions, and the potential influence of personality traits as assessed through administering the HEXACO-60-PI, a self-report measure, to participants. Statistically significant results were uncovered regarding decreased fixation durations and increased state mindfulness scores of participants within the blank screen conditions over the two eyes-open conditions. No significant effect was found regarding fixation counts, which decreased within the blank screen condition. The findings regarding reduced state anxiety did not reach significance and there were no significant differences regarding the six personality types between conditions. The present study offers a step towards understanding how brief mindfulness meditation sessions can be optimised.
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
Cited by 3
- Mindfulness in face recognition: Embedding mindfulness instructions in the face‐composite construction process Applied Cognitive Psychology April 4, 2021
- Mindfulness training in virtual reality for Borderline Personality Disorder symptoms: An analogue study Computers in Human Behavior July 4, 2026
- Preliminary Study on the Clinical Effectiveness of Short-Term Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Using Virtual Reality 신경정신의학 2025
Cites 9
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Examining the Efficacy of a Brief Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Brief MBSR) Program on Psychological Health Journal of American College Health June 24, 2013
- Spontaneous eye movements during focused-attention mindfulness meditation. PLoS One January 24, 2019
- Brief Mindfulness Meditation Improves Attention in Novices: Evidence From ERPs and Moderation by Neuroticism Frontiers in Human Neuroscience August 6, 2018
- The mindful eye: Smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements in meditators and non-meditators. Consciousness and Cognition February 2017
and 4 more in the library