Year: 2012
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Problem solving requires the use of higher mental functions, functions that can be improved with training (Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007).The current study examines the effects of meditation on creative problem solving.Participants were undergraduate students (n = 81) who were randomly assigned to meditate or rest.Next, Pp were asked to solve a problem: fishing out a small object from inside a box using one of four available tools.Two of the available tools were potentially useful, but the other two were intentionally designed to be useless (i.e., they were incapable of retrieving the object).There were no differences between meditators and nonmeditators with respect to solution rates, tool switching behavior, or overall persistence.However, meditators spent more time with their first tool that they selected, and more time attempting to solve the task with the useful tools.Brief meditation training may promote certain cognitive strategies that are conducive to successful problem solving; implications are discussed.
Authors: Jared Ramsburg, Robert J. Youmans
Institutions: University of Illinois Chicago, George Mason University
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2400572995