Golubickis, Marius, Tan, Lucy B.G., Jalalian, Parnian, Falben, Johanna K., and Macrae, Neil C. (2024) Brief mindfulness-based meditation enhances the speed of learning following positive prediction errors. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. (In Press)

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Abstract

Recent research has demonstrated that mindfulness-based meditation facilitates basic aspects of cognition, including memory and attention. Further developing this line of inquiry, here we considered the possibility that similar effects may extend to another core psychological process—instrumental learning. To explore this matter, in combination with a probabilistic selection task, computational modelling (i.e., reinforcement drift diffusion model analysis) was adopted to establish whether and how brief mindfulness-based meditation influences learning under conditions of uncertainty (i.e., choices based on the perceived likelihood of positive and negative outcomes). Three effects were observed. Compared with performance in the control condition (i.e., no meditation), mindfulness-based meditation (1) accelerated the rate of learning following positive prediction errors; (2) elicited a preference for the exploration (vs. exploitation) of choice selections; and (3) increased response caution. Collectively, these findings elucidate the pathways through which brief meditative experiences impact learning and decision-making, with implications for interventions designed to debias aspects of social-cognitive functioning using mindfulness-based meditation.

Item ID:	82415
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1747-0226
Copyright Information:	© Experimental Psychology Society 2024. CC BY.
Date Deposited:	02 Apr 2024 22:07
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology > 520403 Learning, motivation and emotion @ 100%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 100%
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