Absorption and Mindfulness Reflect Distinct Patterns of Attentional Control and Self-Related Processing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus L. Leppanen ◽  
Kyungmi Kim
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
External Stimuli ◽  
Reflective Processing ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Gaining Insight

Abstract. Absorption and mindfulness are personality traits associated with experiencing states of highly-focused attention. Despite this apparent commonality, these two traits have rarely been directly compared, and little is known about what differentiates absorbed from mindful states. The present study explored how individual differences in the cognitive processes of attentional control and self-related processing relate to absorption and mindfulness. Participants completed four self-report measures assessing absorption, mindfulness, style of attentional control over internal/external stimuli, and self-related processing. Absorption and mindfulness were negatively correlated in our sample. Absorption was predicted by a propensity for stimulus-driven attention to external stimuli and frequent engagement in self-reflection without gaining insight into those reflections. Mindfulness was predicted by a propensity for goal-driven attentional control over external stimuli and a tendency to engage in insightful self-reflective processing. Our findings can inform research efforts to further elucidate cognitive mechanisms underlying the relationships of absorption and mindfulness with mental health.

scholarly journals Dynamics of Internal Attention and Internally-Directed Cognition: The Attention-to-Thoughts (A2T) Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iftach Amir ◽  
Amit Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic System ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Dynamic Systems ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Dynamic Systems Theory ◽  
Repetitive Negative Thinking ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Negative Thinking ◽  
Attention Selection ◽  
Internal Attention

The propensity to focus inward – internal attention – is fundamental to human mental life and internally-directed cognition (IDC) such as mindwandering and (mal)adaptive self-reflection. Yet, our understanding of the mechanisms through which internal attention shapes IDC is limited. We argue that our capacity to predict and model (mal)adaptive IDC may be significantly facilitated through understanding the complexity and dynamics of how internal attention interacts with other cognitive processes from which higher-level IDC emerges. We therefore introduce the Attention-to-Thoughts (A2T) model – a dynamic systems theory and computational model of internal attention in IDC. Through the model we aim to, first, conceptually and computationally define momentary states of this dynamic system; and, second, to simulate and predict differential temporal trajectories of this dynamic system through which IDC emerge. Through a series of experimental simulations, we explore how A2T may be used to better understand how internal attention selection is expressed from moment-to-moment; how the dynamic system of internal attention unfolds by documenting how, as a function of contextual demands for focused attention, internal attentional selection iteratively transacts with working-memory and emotion; and, in turn, how higher-level maladaptive IDC (e.g., repetitive negative thinking, cognitive dyscontrol) emerges from temporal trajectories of the dynamic system of internal attention. Finally, we highlight key conceptual, computational and methodological directions for the study of internal attention, IDC and related phenomena (e.g., mindfulness).

The Relevance of Mindfulness and Thought Suppression to Scrupulosity

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-115
Author(s):  
Brian Fisak ◽  
Hayley Rodriguez ◽  
Kellie Kissell
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Thought Suppression ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Trait Mindfulness ◽  
Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Undergraduate University Students ◽  
Insight Into

The purpose of this study was to examine the relevance of the mindfulness and thought suppression to scrupulosity, or religious obsessions. It was hypothesized that scrupulosity would be negatively associated trait mindfulness and positively associated with thought suppression. It was also hypothesized that thought suppression and mindfulness would mediate the association between scrupulosity and symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). A survey-based study was conducted to test these hypotheses in a large, nonreferred sample. In particular, undergraduate university students completed a number of self-report measures, including the Pennsylvania Inventory of Scrupulosity (PIOS), the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire- Short Form (FFMQ-SF), and the White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI) in exchange for extra credit. As anticipated, mindfulness was significantly associated with scrupulosity, with a particularly strong and negative association found between the PIOS and the nonjudging subscale of the FFMQ-SF. Further, thought suppression was found to be significantly and positively associated scores on the PIOS, with correlations in the moderate to strong range. Further, as anticipated, mindfulness and thought suppression mediated the relation between scrupulosity and thought suppression. Overall, the findings provide insight into the cognitive processes related to persistent and disruptive levels of scrupulosity.

Speed vs. comfort: Testing the efficacy of a single question for predicting transit users’ route choices

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph John Pyne Simons ◽  
Ilya Farber
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Efficient Method ◽  
Choice Task ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Single Item ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Single Question ◽  
Insight Into

Not all transit users have the same preferences when making route decisions. Understanding the factors driving this heterogeneity enables better tailoring of policies, interventions, and messaging. However, existing methods for assessing these factors require extensive data collection. Here we present an alternative approach - an easily-administered single item measure of overall preference for speed versus comfort. Scores on the self-report item predict decisions in a choice task and account for a proportion of the differences in model parameters between people (n=298). This single item can easily be included on existing travel surveys, and provides an efficient method to both anticipate the choices of users and gain more general insight into their preferences.

Plato's Caves

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca LeMoine
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
White Supremacist ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
Student Protests ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Cultural Engagement ◽  
Good Citizen ◽  
Love Of Learning ◽  
Canonical Texts ◽  
Insight Into

From student protests over the teaching of canonical texts such as Plato’s Republic to the use of images of classical Greek statues in white supremacist propaganda, the world of the ancient Greeks is deeply implicated in a heated contemporary debate about identity and diversity. Plato’s Caves defends the bold thesis that Plato was a friend of cultural diversity, contrary to many contemporary perceptions. It shows that, across Plato’s dialogues, foreigners play a role similar to that of Socrates: liberating citizens from intellectual bondage. Through close readings of four Platonic dialogues—Republic, Menexenus, Laws, and Phaedrus—the author recovers Plato’s unique insight into the promise, and risk, of cross-cultural engagement. Like the Socratic “gadfly” who stings the “horse” of Athens into wakefulness, foreigners can provoke citizens to self-reflection by exposing contradictions and confronting them with alternative ways of life. The painfulness of this experience explains why encounters with foreigners often give rise to tension and conflict. Yet it also reveals why cultural diversity is an essential good. Simply put, exposure to cultural diversity helps one develop the intellectual humility one needs to be a good citizen and global neighbor. By illuminating Plato’s epistemological argument for cultural diversity, Plato’s Caves challenges readers to examine themselves and to reinvigorate their love of learning.

Standing up to the Demos

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Erskine
Keyword(s):  
Athenian Democracy ◽  
Parallel Lives ◽  
Standing Up ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Gaining Insight ◽  
The Way

Plutarch wrote twenty-three Greek Lives in his series of Parallel Lives—of these, ten were devoted to Athenians. Since Plutarch shared the hostile view of democracy of Polybius and other Hellenistic Greeks, this Athenian preponderance could have been a problem for him. But Plutarch uses these men’s handling of the democracy and especially the demos as a way of gaining insight into the character and capability of his protagonists. This chapter reviews Plutarch’s attitude to Athenian democracy and examines the way a statesman’s character is illuminated by his interaction with the demos. It also considers what it was about Phocion that so appealed to Plutarch, first by looking at his relationship with the democracy and then at the way he evokes the memory of Socrates. For him this was not a minor figure, but a man whose life was representative of the problems of Athenian democracy.

scholarly journals Mind-wandering Is Accompanied by Both Local Sleep and Enhanced Processes of Spatial Attention Allocation

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Wienke ◽  
Mandy V Bartsch ◽  
Lena Vogelgesang ◽  
Christoph Reichert ◽  
Hermann Hinrichs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Search Task ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Attentional Selection ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Cortical Processing ◽  
High Frequency Activity ◽  
External Stimuli ◽  
Local Sleep

Abstract Mind-wandering (MW) is a subjective, cognitive phenomenon, in which thoughts move away from the task toward an internal train of thoughts, possibly during phases of neuronal sleep-like activity (local sleep, LS). MW decreases cortical processing of external stimuli and is assumed to decouple attention from the external world. Here, we directly tested how indicators of LS, cortical processing, and attentional selection change in a pop-out visual search task during phases of MW. Participants’ brain activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography, MW was assessed via self-report using randomly interspersed probes. As expected, the performance decreased under MW. Consistent with the occurrence of LS, MW was accompanied by a decrease in high-frequency activity (HFA, 80–150 Hz) and an increase in slow wave activity (SWA, 1–6 Hz). In contrast, visual attentional selection as indexed by the N2pc component was enhanced during MW with the N2pc amplitude being directly linked to participants’ performance. This observation clearly contradicts accounts of attentional decoupling that would predict a decrease in attention-related responses to external stimuli during MW. Together, our results suggest that MW occurs during phases of LS with processes of attentional target selection being upregulated, potentially to compensate for the mental distraction during MW.

scholarly journals To sext or not to sext. The role of social-cognitive processes in the decision to engage in sexting

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 1410-1429
Author(s):  
Claire Wilson ◽  
Tommy van Steen ◽  
Christabel Akinyode ◽  
Zara P. Brodie ◽  
Graham G. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Factors ◽  
Relationship Status ◽  
Injunctive Norm ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Insight Into

Technology has given rise to online behaviors such as sexting. It is important that we examine predictors of such behavior in order to understand who is more likely to sext and thus inform intervention aimed at sexting awareness. We used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine sexting beliefs and behavior. Participants (n = 418; 70.3% women) completed questionnaires assessing attitudes (instrumental and affective), subjective norms (injunctive and descriptive), control perceptions (self-efficacy and controllability) and intentions toward sexting. Specific sexting beliefs (fun/carefree beliefs, perceived risks and relational expectations) were also measured and sexting behavior reported. Relationship status, instrumental attitude, injunctive norm, descriptive norm and self-efficacy were associated with sexting intentions. Relationship status, intentions and self-efficacy related to sexting behavior. Results provide insight into the social-cognitive factors related to individuals’ sexting behavior and bring us closer to understanding what beliefs predict the behavior.

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