A series of eight 45-minute "mindfulness" training sessions, in which participants learned to focus on a single aspect of experience, such as breathing, led to standardized-test improvements analagous to 16 percentile points, on average, says a team led by Michael D. Mrazek of UC Santa Barbara. For people who struggle to maintain focus, mindfulness training appears to dampen distracting thoughts, the researchers say.
Read more in Psychological Science.
Read more in Psychological Science.
