Meditation and attention: A comparison of the effects of concentrative and mindfulness meditation on sustained attention
Mental Health Religion & Culture May 1, 1999 Elizabeth R. Valentine, Philip L. G. Sweet 408 citations
Both concentrative and mindfulness meditators outperformed non-meditators on a test of sustained attention, with long-term meditators performing better than short-term meditators. Mindfulness meditators were superior to concentrative meditators when the stimulus was unexpected, but no difference emerged when the stimulus was expected. The findings suggest that different attentional mechanisms underlie the two types of meditation, with implications for mental health.