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Date Permissions Signed

5-20-2016

Date of Award

Spring 2016

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Lehman, Barbara J.

Second Advisor

Dinnel, Dale L.

Third Advisor

Gruman, Diana H.

Fourth Advisor

Forgays, Deborah

Abstract

Mindfulness meditation (MM) has grown in popularity over the recent years, becoming a way in which to achieve awareness of the present moment. Benefits of MM include decreased rates of mind wandering, depression, and anxiety, as well as improvements in well-being and attention. However, MM researchers using novice meditators usually compare them to a passive control group or a control group that completes relaxation training. The present study used a cognitively active control group as a comparison group to examine the way attention, rumination, and mind wandering are affected by a short-term MM training. Participants were randomly assigned to complete one week of MM training or one week of poetry analysis. Participants completed measures before and after training, as well as seven days of experience sampling following the completion of training. Results indicated that all participants showed improvements in mindfulness and attention and declines in rumination, and that the two groups did not differ in the magnitude of these effects. Additionally, our longitudinal results indicated that attention did not mediate the relationship between mindfulness and rumination, but our experience sampling results suggested that state mind wandering mediated the relationship between state mindfulness and state rumination. These results suggest that individuals may need to reach intermediate levels of MM training before seeing effects distinct to MM practice.

Type

Text

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25710/s6cg-ca21

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

950470594

Subject – LCSH

Meditation; Mindfulness (Psychology); Attention; Critical thinking

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.

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