The role of mindfulness in enhancing cognitive processing efficiency among university students

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of a mindfulness training program for speeding up information processing among university students. A quasi–experimental pretest–posttest control-group design was used by 140 female undergraduate students from Irbid University College, Al-Balqa Applied University, Jordan. The participants were divided into an experimental group that underwent eight mindfulness sessions over the course of four weeks (n = 70) and a control group that underwent no intervention at all (n = 70). Information-processing speed was measured by a standardized visual-discrimination and symbol-matching task (with faster completion times suggesting faster information-processing speed). First, the pretest scores were compared using an independent-samples t-test, and the results did not reveal a significant difference between the groups, t (137.92) = 0.35, p = 0.728. At posttest, the experimental group completed the task faster (M = 44.10, SD = 7.50) than the control group (M = 50.90, SD = 8.10). Controlling for pretest scores in an ANCOVA revealed that the intervention was significant, F (1, 137) = 72.52, p < 0.001, partial η² = 0.346. The adjusted posttest mean was lower for the experimental group (M = 43.43, SE = 0.73) than for the control group (M = 52.20, SE = 0.73). It was also found that there is a pretest-to-posttest significant difference for the experimental group, while the control group did not exhibit this. These data, taken together, suggest a potential effect of mindfulness training on information-processing speed in children.