Better Cognitive Performance Is Associated With the Combination of High Trait Mindfulness and Low Trait Anxiety

Abstract

There are several ways in which cognitive and neurophysiological parameters have been consistently used to explain the variability in cognitive ability between people. However, little has been done to explore how such cognitive abilities are influenced by differences in personality traits. Dispositional mindfulness and anxiety are two inversely linked traits that have been independently attributed to a range of cognitive functions. The current study investigated these two traits in combination along with measures of the attentional network, cognitive inhibition, and visual working memory (VWM) capacity. A total of 392 prospective participants were screened to select two experimental groups each of 30 healthy young adults, with one having high mindfulness and low anxiety (HMLA) and the second having low mindfulness and high anxiety (LMHA). The groups performed an attentional network task, a color Stroop task, and a change detection test of VWM capacity. Results showed that the HMLA group was more accurate than the LMHA group on the Stroop and change detection tasks. Additionally, the HMLA group was more sensitive in detecting changes and had a higher WMC than the LMHA group. This research adds to the literature that has investigated mindfulness and anxiety independently with a comprehensive investigation of the effects of these two traits in conjunction on executive function.

Dispositional Mindfulness and Attentional Control: The Specific Association Between the Mindfulness Facets of Non-judgment and Describing With Flexibility of Early Operating Orienting in Conflict Detection

“…It is previously shown that mindfulness training increases the efficiency of the attention networks of orienting ( Jha et al, 2007 ) and conflict detection ( Wenk-Sormaz, 2005 ; Chan and Woollacott, 2007 ; Slagter et al, 2007 ; Tang et al, 2007 ; Moore and Malinowski, 2009 ; Ainsworth et al, 2013 ), and possibly the interaction between orienting and conflict detection ( Moore and Malinowski, 2009 ). However, only a few studies ( Josefsson and Broberg, 2011 ; Ainsworth et al, 2013 ; Di Francesco et al, 2017 ; Jaiswal et al, 2018 ) have investigated the effects of dispositional mindfulness on the same attention networks. We applied the FFMQ that measures dispositional mindfulness as a multi-faceted construct and measured the attention networks with the ANT-R allowing for studying the interaction between early operating orienting and conflict detection.…”

“…The relationship between dispositional mindfulness and attentional control shows inconsistent results across the few studies that have been conducted ( Josefsson and Broberg, 2011 ; Ainsworth et al, 2013 ; Di Francesco et al, 2017 ; Jaiswal et al, 2018 ). These inconsistencies seem to stem from applying different versions of the Attention Network Test (ANT), which measures the three attention networks, and different approaches in measuring dispositional mindfulness.…”

“…These inconsistencies seem to stem from applying different versions of the Attention Network Test (ANT), which measures the three attention networks, and different approaches in measuring dispositional mindfulness. For instance, dispositional mindfulness, as measured by dividing into high and low mindfulness according to the mean total score of the MAAS, was found not to differentiate performance on the original ANT ( Fan et al, 2002 ) or on other attentional control tasks (a Stroop color-word interference task and a working memory task) ( Jaiswal et al, 2018 ). Another study ( Ainsworth et al, 2013 ) using the MAAS, found dispositional mindfulness to be related to more efficient conflict detection on an emotional ANT.…”

Exploring the impact of a brief mindfulness induction on motor inhibitory control

“…The data obtained here are consistent with motor inhibitory control being unaffected by mindfulness, irrespective of whether engagement with the technique is long or brief. Future mindfulness studies should investigate a broader spectrum of cognitive tasks and sample populations (Jaiswal et al, 2018) to test cognitive functions and population types that might be sensitive to mindfulness interventions.…”

Indices of association between anxiety and mindfulness: a guide for future mindfulness studies

“…For example, it was shown that under a low cognitive load state, individuals with higher trait anxiety levels showed impaired conflict control (Bishop, 2009). Additionally, a recent study (Jaiswal, Tsai, Juan, Liang, & Muggleton, 2018) showed that when participants were grouped based on their mindfulness and anxiety scores, the group with high mindfulness and low anxiety had higher efficiency of cognitive control, reflected in higher accuracy on the Stroop task as well as in its associated electrophysiology (Jaiswal, Tsai, Juan, Muggleton, & Liang, 2019). They also showed higher visual working memory capacity on a change-detection task.…”