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...stems of attention – an endogenousssystem associated with voluntary, goal-directed (top-down) processing and ansexogenous system associated with involuntary or stimulus-driven (bottom-up)sprocessing (=-=Posner, 1980-=- ). Whereas the endogenous system is considered a voluntarys9ssystem in which activation depends on cues indicating perceptual and responsescharacteristics of stimuli to which individuals should atten...

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...ponses.sThus in terms of exogenous/endogenous processing,salerting represents an exogenous process, whereas orienting and conflict monitoring aresgenerally considered endogenous systems of attention (=-=Corbetta & Shulman, 2002-=-).s10s1.4 MBSR: Concentration vs. mindfulness-based meditationssBefore turning to a review of the research upon which the current study isspredicated, let us consider where the MBSR literature fits in...

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...to the type of receptive attention that is activated insmindfulness meditations (Jha, Krompinger, & Baime, 2007).sThis exogenous/endogenous model is an extension of the tripartite model ofsattention (=-=Posner & Peterson, 1990-=-) in which attention is defined in terms of threesfunctionally distinct cognitive subsystems – alerting, orienting, and conflict monitoring.sAs per the tripartite model of attention, alerting refers t...

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....sFigure 2: Inattention blindness task.sTrack the total number of times the whitesshapes bounce off the screen.sTrials in this task were modeled after previous experiments on inattentionalsblindness (=-=Mack & Rock, 1998-=-).sNo unexpected events occurred during the first twostrials, but five seconds into the third trial (the critical trial) a red cross unexpectedlysappeared at the right side of the screen and moved hor...

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...ic Questionnaire:sThis form assessed demographic variables includingsage, gender, race, marital status, employment status, and education (see Appendix C).sThe Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; =-=Brown & Ryan, 2003-=-):sThe MAASsis a 15 item, 7-point scale (1 = almost always, 6 = almost never) self-report measuresdesigned to assess core characteristic of mindfulness, namely, open or receptivesawareness of and atte...

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...programssacross the United States (Jha, Stanley, Kiyonaga, Wong, & Gelfand, 2010), MBSR hass2sbeen, and continues to be, the most commonly cited method of mindfulness training insclinical psychology (=-=Baer, 2003-=-; Shapiro, Oman, Thoresen, Plante, & Flinders, 2008).sMBSR was developed in a behavioral medical setting as a treatment for peoplessuffering from chronic pain and stress related disorders.sThe program...

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...Although MBSR is a relatively new intervention, a review of the researchsliterature suggests that it is uniquely successful in treating a range ofsphysical andspsychological disorders (Greeson, 2008; =-=Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, & Walach, 2004-=-).sMBSR has been associated with decreased symptoms and symptom severity in patientsssuffering from generalized anxiety (Kabat-Zinn et al., 1992), binge eating (Kristeller &sHallett, 1999), social anx...

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...r usingsa 17” monitor.sAttention Network Test (ANT):sParticipants were given a variant of the ANT,sdesigned by Fan and colleagues, that has been comprehensively described elsewheres(Fan et al., 2003; =-=Fan et al., 2002-=-; Fossella, Posner, Fan Swanson, & Pfaff, 2002).sBriefly,sparticipants sat at a comfortable distance from the computer monitor and weresinstructed to keep their attention focused on a cross ("+") in t...

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...ofscognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression (Beck et al., 1979) – is proving to besparticularly effective at reducing the rate of episode relapse in patients with recurrentsmajor depression (=-=Teasdale et al., 2000-=-). More recent research suggests that, in suicidallysdepressed patients, MBCT is associated with significant improvements in metaawareness and memory specificity, which have been targeted as processes...

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...chological disorders (Greeson, 2008; Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, & Walach, 2004).sMBSR has been associated with decreased symptoms and symptom severity in patientsssuffering from generalized anxiety (=-=Kabat-Zinn et al., 1992-=-), binge eating (Kristeller &sHallett, 1999), social anxiety (Goldin & Gross, 2010) and attention deficit (Zylowska etsal., 2008) disorders.sIn terms of the medical research, participation in MBSR has...

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...as focused on whether orsnot it can produce substantive changes in physical and mental health, recent years havesseen an increase in theoretical articles proposing potential mechanisms of change (sees=-=Bishop et al., 2004-=-; Dimidjian & Linehan,, 2003; Hayes & Shenk, 2004; Hayes & Wilson,s2003; Shapiro et al., 2006; Teasdale, Segal, & Williams, 1994).sAlthough the models andshypotheses that have been proposed are divers...

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...e’s focus issintentionally and deliberately focused on one’s experience, whereas the exogenousssystem may be analogous to the type of receptive attention that is activated insmindfulness meditations (=-=Jha, Krompinger, & Baime, 2007-=-).sThis exogenous/endogenous model is an extension of the tripartite model ofsattention (Posner & Peterson, 1990) in which attention is defined in terms of threesfunctionally distinct cognitive subsys...

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...ed reduced amygdalasactivity and increased activity in brain regions implicated in visual attention-relateds16sparietal and occipital brain regions associated with alerting, or exogenous, processings(=-=Fan, McCandliss, Fossella, Flombaum, & Posner, 2005-=-) during the breath-focused (butsnot distraction-focused) task.sIn addition, participants reported significant reductions insnegative emotion experience post-MBSR.sThese results are among the first to...

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...they provide littlesin terms of furthering our understanding of how these interventions produce theschanges attributed to them (Bishop, 2002; Hayes & Shenk, 2004; Hayes & Wilson, 2003;sShapiro, 2009; =-=Shapiro et al., 2006-=-).s4s1.2 Mindfulness modelssAlthough the bulk of the empirical research on MBSR has focused on whether orsnot it can produce substantive changes in physical and mental health, recent years havesseen a...

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... meditations have beens11sassociated with increased activity in brain regions associated with attention (Goldin &sGross, 2010) and improvements in sustained attention tasks and executive functionings(=-=Brefczynski-Lewis, Lutz, Schaefer, Levinson, & Davidson, 2007-=-; Lutz et al., 2009), andsmindfulness-based meditations have been uniquely associated with an increased abilitysto detect unexpected stimuli (Cahn & Polich, 2009; Valentine & Sweet, 1999) and thesenha...

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...sscorrelate with performance measures on an alerting task. Similarly, although researchssuggests that mindfulness training improves endogenous processes such as conflictsmonitoring (Jha et al., 2007; =-=Tang et al., 2007-=-) these changes have not been considered insthe context of self-reported mindfulness scores.sGiven the research reviewed, thesprediction was that, consistent with previous findings, experienced MBSR p...

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...sociated with an increased abilitysto detect unexpected stimuli (Cahn & Polich, 2009; Valentine & Sweet, 1999) and thesenhanced capacity to represent non-linguistic-based awareness in working memorys(=-=Farb et al., 2007-=-).sThus, although the specific subsystems engaged in meditation maysdepend, to some degree, on meditation type, evidence suggests that both mindfulnesssand concentrative meditations hone attention.s1....

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...enhancedsthrough mindfulness meditation.sSpecifically, the authors maintained that vigilance orssustained attention – defined as the ability to allocate attention to one object over a periodsof time (=-=Parasuraman, 1998-=-; Posner & Rothbart, 1992), switching – the capacity tosdeliberately switch attention from one object to other objects or mental sets (Posner,s1980), and cognitive inhibition – the capacity to willing...

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...ndition to confirm that participants understood and followed the task instructions, assthe majority of participants have been shown to see the cross in these full-attention trialss(Mack & Rock, 1998; =-=Most et al., 2001-=-).sThe administration and completion of the tasksand questions associated with it took approximately 10 minutes per subject.sParticipantssreceived scores for accuracy in the counting task, and group d...

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...ughsthese outcome studies attest to the applicability of MBSR and MBCT, they provide littlesin terms of furthering our understanding of how these interventions produce theschanges attributed to them (=-=Bishop, 2002-=-; Hayes & Shenk, 2004; Hayes & Wilson, 2003;sShapiro, 2009; Shapiro et al., 2006).s4s1.2 Mindfulness modelssAlthough the bulk of the empirical research on MBSR has focused on whether orsnot it can pro...

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...R has been associated with decreased symptoms and symptom severity in patientsssuffering from generalized anxiety (Kabat-Zinn et al., 1992), binge eating (Kristeller &sHallett, 1999), social anxiety (=-=Goldin & Gross, 2010-=-) and attention deficit (Zylowska etsal., 2008) disorders.sIn terms of the medical research, participation in MBSR has beens3sassociated with significant improvements on physiological indices of disea...

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...008) disorders.sIn terms of the medical research, participation in MBSR has beens3sassociated with significant improvements on physiological indices of disease amongstspatients suffering from cancer (=-=Carlson, Speca, Faris, & Patel, 2007-=-; Witek-Janusek et al.,s2008), psoriasis (Kabat-Zinn et al., 1998), and HIV (Robinson, Mathews, & WitekJanusek, 2003).sIn addition, patients with heart disease (Tacon, McComb, Caldera, &sRandolph, 200...

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...ens3sassociated with significant improvements on physiological indices of disease amongstspatients suffering from cancer (Carlson, Speca, Faris, & Patel, 2007; Witek-Janusek et al.,s2008), psoriasis (=-=Kabat-Zinn et al., 1998-=-), and HIV (Robinson, Mathews, & WitekJanusek, 2003).sIn addition, patients with heart disease (Tacon, McComb, Caldera, &sRandolph, 2003), chronic pain (Kabat-Zinn et al, Lipworth, & Burney, 1985),sfi...

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...tosincrease the sample size.sIndeed, previous studies in which IB effects have beensobserved generally included sample sizes ranging from 75 – 300 participants (Most et al.,s2001; Most & Astur, 2007; =-=Most, Chun, Widders, & Zald, 2005-=-; Most et al., 2000).sUnfortunately, limited funding prohibited the recruitment of more subjects for thescurrent study.s4.4 Self-reported mindfulnesssThe current study contributes to research suggesti...

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... Schaefer, Levinson, & Davidson, 2007; Lutz et al., 2009), andsmindfulness-based meditations have been uniquely associated with an increased abilitysto detect unexpected stimuli (Cahn & Polich, 2009; =-=Valentine & Sweet, 1999-=-) and thesenhanced capacity to represent non-linguistic-based awareness in working memorys(Farb et al., 2007).sThus, although the specific subsystems engaged in meditation maysdepend, to some degree, ...

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...redict performance on tasks measuring exogenoussand endogenous attention.sResearch suggests that meditation training is associated with an increase in selfreported mindfulness (Anderson et al., 2007; =-=Chambers et al., 2008-=-; Moore &sMalinowski, 2008).sAlthoughssome evidence suggests that, over time, meditationspractitioners show a larger benefit from exogenous cues as reflected by a greater alertingseffect (Jha et al., ...

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...oss the United States (Jha, Stanley, Kiyonaga, Wong, & Gelfand, 2010), MBSR hass2sbeen, and continues to be, the most commonly cited method of mindfulness training insclinical psychology (Baer, 2003; =-=Shapiro, Oman, Thoresen, Plante, & Flinders, 2008-=-).sMBSR was developed in a behavioral medical setting as a treatment for peoplessuffering from chronic pain and stress related disorders.sThe program is typicallysprovided as an 8-week course in which...

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...hshe defines mindfulness as “paying attention; on purpose, in the present moment, andsnon-judgmentally.sAlthough many researchers debate the role and function of intentionsand attitude (Bishop, 2002; =-=Dimidjian & Linehan, 2003-=-; Hayes & Wilson, 2003), thesmajority agree that attention is a fundamental component of mindfulness.sThe two most widely recognized models of mindfulness in the MBSR literaturesboth identify attentio...

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...mindfulnesssThe current study contributes to research suggesting that meditation training issassociated with a higher degree of self-reported mindfulness (Anderson et al., 2007;sChamber et al., 2008; =-=Moore & Malinowski, 2008-=-).sAlthoughssome evidencessuggestssthat improvements in mindfulness following training in MBSR are correlated withsimprovements in performance on attentional tasks, namely object detection, (Andersons...

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...ogenous processing.sAlthough subsystems of attention associated with endogenous processing havesreceived the most attention in the meditation literature (Anderson et al., 2007; Chambersset al.,s2008; =-=Wenk-Sormaz, 2005-=-), evidence suggests that exogenous processes mightsalso be improved as a function of meditation.sSpecifically, Jha et al. (2007) reportedssignificant changes in the exogenous process of alerting usin...

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... the applicability of MBSR and MBCT, they provide littlesin terms of furthering our understanding of how these interventions produce theschanges attributed to them (Bishop, 2002; Hayes & Shenk, 2004; =-=Hayes & Wilson, 2003-=-;sShapiro, 2009; Shapiro et al., 2006).s4s1.2 Mindfulness modelssAlthough the bulk of the empirical research on MBSR has focused on whether orsnot it can produce substantive changes in physical and me...

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..., and awareness of, events and experiences that occur in the present moment (Brown &sRyan, 2003; Klatt, Buckworth, & Malarky, 2009).sEvidence suggests that the MAAS is asvalid measure of mindfulness (=-=MacKillop & Anderson, 2007-=-) with good convergent andsdiscriminant validity, as well as high internal consistency (alpha = .82; Brown & Ryan).sThe scale shows strong psychometric properties and has been validated with college,s...

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...focus (insthe case of body scan exercises, the objects of focus include various regions of the body).sThus although MBSR has been compared antithetically to concentration-basedsmeditation approaches (=-=Anderson, Lau, Segal, & Bishop, 2007-=-), aspects of the programsare consistent with concentration-based approaches.sResearch initiatives have aimed to address this discrepancy by examining thesspecific effects of the various meditation ex...

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...s“Inattentional blindness” (IB) refers to the phenomenon that occurs whensindividuals engaged in a task that requires a high level of sustained attention fail tosnotice unexpected objects or stimuli (=-=Most, Simons, Scholl, & Chabris, 2000-=-).sPerhapssthe most common example of this phenomena is the classic “gorilla task” (Simons &sChabris, 1999) in which participants watch a video of two teams – one dressed in white,sthe other in black ...

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...s over time.sSpecifically, the MAAS is designed to assess the presence or absence of one’s attentionsto, and awareness of, events and experiences that occur in the present moment (Brown &sRyan, 2003; =-=Klatt, Buckworth, & Malarky, 2009-=-).sEvidence suggests that the MAAS is asvalid measure of mindfulness (MacKillop & Anderson, 2007) with good convergent andsdiscriminant validity, as well as high internal consistency (alpha = .82; Bro...

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...fczynski-Lewis, Lutz, Schaefer, Levinson, & Davidson, 2007; Lutz et al., 2009), andsmindfulness-based meditations have been uniquely associated with an increased abilitysto detect unexpected stimuli (=-=Cahn & Polich, 2009-=-; Valentine & Sweet, 1999) and thesenhanced capacity to represent non-linguistic-based awareness in working memorys(Farb et al., 2007).sThus, although the specific subsystems engaged in meditation may...

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...ted thatsorienting and conflict monitoring both represent endogenous, top-down processes,srecent cognitive research suggests that orienting is not strictly a top-down processs(Askenazi & Henik, 2010; =-=Mayer et al., 2004-=-).sAs a result, one might observe significantsgroup differences in executive functioning, as indexed by conflict monitoring, in thesabsence of significant differences in orienting, as was reported in ...

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...ome studies attest to the applicability of MBSR and MBCT, they provide littlesin terms of furthering our understanding of how these interventions produce theschanges attributed to them (Bishop, 2002; =-=Hayes & Shenk, 2004-=-; Hayes & Wilson, 2003;sShapiro, 2009; Shapiro et al., 2006).s4s1.2 Mindfulness modelssAlthough the bulk of the empirical research on MBSR has focused on whether orsnot it can produce substantive chan...

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...suicidallysdepressed patients, MBCT is associated with significant improvements in metaawareness and memory specificity, which have been targeted as processes that arescritical to relapse prevention (=-=Hargus, Crane, Barnhofer, & Williams, 2010-=-).sAlthoughsthese outcome studies attest to the applicability of MBSR and MBCT, they provide littlesin terms of furthering our understanding of how these interventions produce theschanges attributed t...

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... gorilla.sMost laboratory experiments of IB have examined the existence of thesphenomena and factors that influence its occurrence, but recent research has focused onsthe implications of this effect (=-=Most & Astur, 2007-=-).sFindings suggest, for instance, thatscell phone usage significantly increases the probability of missing an unexpected objects(Scholl et al., 2003). Thus, in addition to providing insight into the ...

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...sBhikku Bodhi, a renowned Theravadan scholar and monk, suggested that mindfulnesssmeans remembering to pay attention to that which one is experiencing in the presentsmoment with care and discernment (=-=Shapiro, 2009-=-; Wallace & Bodhi, 2006).sIn the context of clinical psychology, mindfulness became a particularlysmeaningful construct following the introduction of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reductions(MBSR, Kabat-Zi...

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...s processing, recentsresearch suggests that it is a unique attention network, distinct from the clearlysexogenous process of alerting and the endogenous, executive functioning of conflictsmonitoring (=-=Askenazi & Henik, 2010-=-).sThus, although Jha et al. (2007) suggested thatsorienting and conflict monitoring both represent endogenous, top-down processes,srecent cognitive research suggests that orienting is not strictly a ...

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...ndfulness meditation.sSpecifically, the authors maintained that vigilance orssustained attention – defined as the ability to allocate attention to one object over a periodsof time (Parasuraman, 1998; =-=Posner & Rothbart, 1992-=-), switching – the capacity tosdeliberately switch attention from one object to other objects or mental sets (Posner,s1980), and cognitive inhibition – the capacity to willingly restrict secondary ela...

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...sk.sAdditionally, the object detection task used by Anderson et al. was not implemented insthe current study.sSimilarly, Anderson et al. assessed mindfulness using the TorontosMindfulness Scale (TMS; =-=Bishop et al., 2003-=-), whereas mindfulness in the current studyswas measures using the MAAS.sObviously using different tasks and measures acrosssstudies hampers our ability to draw meaningful conclusions regarding differ...

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...ed with endogenous processing.sSimilarly, Tang et al. (2007) sought to assess changes in the self-regulation ofsattention following a 5 day intensive training in integrative body-mind training (IBMT;s=-=Tang, 2007-=-).sIBMT combines features of mindfulness-based meditations to facilitatesmind-body awareness.sUsing the ANT to measure alerting, orienting, and conflictsmonitoring, the researchers found that, compare...