The Influence Of Mindfulness Training On Sustained Attention And Its Mechanism

Sustained Attention is the ability to focus attention on a target stimulus and maintain it for a period of time without being disturbed by other stimuli.Mindfulness Training has proven to improve the practitioner’s sustained attention.However,the internal process of mindfulness training improve sustained attention is not clear.Some researchers explain the mechanism of mindfulness training improve Sustained attention,and believe that the core of mindfulness training is to enhance awareness and to foster acceptance.The training of awareness makes it easier for individuals to realize that they are distracted and to bring attention back to the current goal.The cultivation of acceptance can make the process calmly and unaffected by emotions.The phenomenon of distraction is called Mind Wandering in the field of psychology.It is the conscious state that the mental contents are occupied with internal information,independent from the events here and now.According to whether it is recognized,it can be divided into Tune out and Zone out.Mindfulness training may be to enhance the ability of meta-awareness,so that the practitioner is more likely to be aware of mind wandering and to bring the attention back to the current task,thereby improving sustained attention.However,few studies have demonstrated this hypothesis.For this reason,this study will test whether Zone out plays a mediating role in the impact of mindfulness training on sustained attention.And the influence of two cores of mindfulness training（awareness,acceptance）on sustained attention and mind wandering.This paper contains two studies.Study1 explores the relationship between mindfulness traits,mind wandering and sustained attention at the trait level.Study2 joins short-term mindfulness training to explore the impact of mindfulness training on sustained attention and its mechanism.Study1 analyzes the relationship between mindfulness,mind wandering and sustained attention.The results showed that the mindfulness traits was significantly positively correlated with the mind wandering awareness index（study1a:r=0.290,p<0.01）,and was significantly positively correlated with the meta-awareness mind wandering ratio（study1b:r=0.376,p<0.05）,but the relationship with sustained attention was not stable（study1a:r=-0.099,p=0.282;study1b:r=-0.338,p<0.05）,and the meta-awareness mind wandering ratio was not found to mediate mindfulness traits to influence sustained attention.On the contrary,we found that the mindfulness traits plays a moderator in the sustained attention of mind wandering（ΔR²=0.050,p<0.05）.Based on the results of Study1,we adjusted the research hypothesis and focus on the role of mindfulness traits（training）in mind wandering to influence sustained attention.Study2 explores the impact of short-term mindfulness training on sustained attention and its mechanisms.The results showed that after receiving standard mindfulness training or awareness training,the state of mindfulness was significantly improved,and in the SART,the sustained attention of the standard mindfulness training group(F_（1,102）=10.847,p=0.001,Partialη²=0.096),and the training group(F_（1,100）=4.870,p=0.030,Partialη²=0.045)was significantly better than neutral material group,but there was no significant difference from the imagine relaxation group.In addition,the meta-awareness mind wandering ratio of the standard mindfulness training group was significantly higher than the neutral material group(F_（1,88）=3.957,p=0.050,Partialη²=0.042),while the ratio of the awareness training group was significantly higher than the imagine relaxation group(F_（1,85）=7.229,p=0.009,Partialη²=0.078)and the neutral material group(F_（1,87）=14.491,p<0.001,Partialη²=0.143).Moreover,in the path of the interventions influence sustained attention,Attention-back played a mediating role,so that the standard mindfulness training group and the awareness training group performed better.This result corresponds to the essence of mindfulness training:constantly aware of the state of consciousness of the individual,finds mind wandering and pulls back attention,thereby improving the sustained attention.The study mainly obtained the following conclusions:Firstly,the higher the level of mindfulness traits,the stronger the meta-awareness of mind wandering,thus reducing the interference of mind wandering on sustained attention.Specifically,the sustained attention of individuals with high mindfulness traits is not affected by mind wandering.While individuals with low mindfulness traits is obviously affected by mind wandering,and the more mind wandering,the more the worse sustained attention.Secondly,short-term mindfulness training and awareness training can significantly enhance the practitioner’s meta-awareness of mind wandering.Thirdly,short-term mindfulness training and awareness training can significantly improve the practitioner’s sustained attention,and this effect comes from the attention adjustment after realizing mind wandering.