Mindful Undergraduate

“Attention is the gateway to awareness and probably happiness to.” Sometimes our awareness seems to be restricted to the stimuli of our focused attention, and other times, irrelevant distractors will dominate our awareness. At times we find that our awareness and attention appear to diverge, and we’re incapable of blocking awareness to irrelevant distractions despite focusing attention on our task, while other times, we find our selves solely aware of what we are attending to. According to Dr. Grabowecky, the selective nature of attention is important for goal-directed behavior. When we are really not expecting something, we may miss it entirely. Sometimes, even when we see something, we may miss a feature of the stimulus. Thus, the ultimate goal is to control attention. There are two forms of meditation discussed by Dr. Grabowecky; focused attention meditation, which entails voluntary focusing of attention on a chosen object, and reactive monitoring of the content of experience from moment to moment. Such meditation practices on attention may potentially have numerous long-term benefits to ones mental and behavioral well being.

            Now, take into account an undergraduate student that lives on campus. In an environment that is very academically demanding, attention can be elusive and even difficult to consistently maintain. This lack of concentration may potentially interfere with learning. As a result, it may further perpetuate stress to students that only increases as the academic term progresses.

Alexandra B. Morrison conducted a seven-week study on undergraduate students to see the effects of meditation on focus. Participants in the study were taught and practiced mindful meditation. Mindfulness is a mental state where the subject pays attention only to the present experience. They are not to worry about the past or the future.

            Interesting enough, the results of the study went in accordance to Dr. Graboweky’s claim of the positive effects of meditation on attention. The results of the study showed that the control group, the group of students who were not directed to partake in mindful meditation, showed diminished attention and reported increased mind wandering by the end of the study. On the other hand, the group that participated in the program showed significant improvements in attention. In addition to that, they reported no increase in mind wandering.

            The implications of this research are fascinating and helpful. Many undergraduate students succumb to the consumption of excess caffeine, vitamin B’s, and even various cognitive enhancing drugs in order to be able to study or focus longer. Some even consume strong prescription stimulants that may have a multitude of side effects. By constructively implementing a consistent meditation session on a regular basis, one may be able to naturally improve attention.

Journal Reference:

Lutz, A., Slagter, H. A., Dunne, J. D., & Davidson, R. J. (2008). Attention regulation and  monitoring in meditation. Trends in cognitive sciences, 12(4), 163-169.

Article Reference:

University of Miami. (2014, January 14). Mindfulness helps undergraduates stay on track. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 12, 2014 from            www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140114103042.htm

Alexandra B. Morrison, Merissa Goolsarran, Scott L. Rogers, Amishi P. Jha. Taming a wandering attention: short-form mindfulness training in student cohorts. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2014; 7 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00897