Mindfulness effects on postural control and attention

Mindfulness has been suggested to curb habitual tendencies such as postural control. As mindfulness is principled on attention, and attention is associated with the visual environment, mindfulness can also aid in withstanding visual environmental distractions. This study sought to test these hypothe...

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Main Author: Cheong, Michelle Sara Mingrong
Other Authors: National Institute of Education
Format: Final Year Project (FYP)
Language:English
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/59012
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author Cheong, Michelle Sara Mingrong
author2 National Institute of Education
author_facet National Institute of Education
Cheong, Michelle Sara Mingrong
author_sort Cheong, Michelle Sara Mingrong
collection NTU
description Mindfulness has been suggested to curb habitual tendencies such as postural control. As mindfulness is principled on attention, and attention is associated with the visual environment, mindfulness can also aid in withstanding visual environmental distractions. This study sought to test these hypotheses through observing mindfulness effects on postural control and attention. Thirty-nine female participants (age: M = 22.1 ± 0.90) were randomized into the mindfulness or control group, and before and after the manipulation, performed a two-leg postural balance task on a force plate whilst wearing an eye-tracker and watching a first-hand view of a 30s rollercoaster ride. Postural control and attention were assessed through maximum deviations (MaxD) of postural sway and eye movements respectively. The 2 (group: mindfulness and control) X 2 (time: pre-test and post-test) mixed ANOVA results showed that postural control improved significantly in the medial-lateral direction (p = 0.018), but insignificantly in the anterior-posterior direction (p = 0.18), when mindfulness and control groups were compared. In contrast, results pertaining to improvements in attention were insignificant in both the horizontal (p = 0.413) and vertical directions (p = 0.486) when both groups were compared. The study found mindfulness improved postural control, supporting the hypothesis that it can curb habitual tendencies, but the insignificant attention results suggested that mindfulness did not particularly help the participants withstand environmental distractions. This could however, have been due to experimental limitations, and this study should be replicated with larger sample sizes or different age groups and investigated further. Key words: mindfulness, postural control, attention, eye movements
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spelling ntu-10356/590122020-09-27T20:20:18Z Mindfulness effects on postural control and attention Cheong, Michelle Sara Mingrong National Institute of Education Kee Yinghwa Adrian DRNTU::Social sciences::Psychology::Experimental psychology Mindfulness has been suggested to curb habitual tendencies such as postural control. As mindfulness is principled on attention, and attention is associated with the visual environment, mindfulness can also aid in withstanding visual environmental distractions. This study sought to test these hypotheses through observing mindfulness effects on postural control and attention. Thirty-nine female participants (age: M = 22.1 ± 0.90) were randomized into the mindfulness or control group, and before and after the manipulation, performed a two-leg postural balance task on a force plate whilst wearing an eye-tracker and watching a first-hand view of a 30s rollercoaster ride. Postural control and attention were assessed through maximum deviations (MaxD) of postural sway and eye movements respectively. The 2 (group: mindfulness and control) X 2 (time: pre-test and post-test) mixed ANOVA results showed that postural control improved significantly in the medial-lateral direction (p = 0.018), but insignificantly in the anterior-posterior direction (p = 0.18), when mindfulness and control groups were compared. In contrast, results pertaining to improvements in attention were insignificant in both the horizontal (p = 0.413) and vertical directions (p = 0.486) when both groups were compared. The study found mindfulness improved postural control, supporting the hypothesis that it can curb habitual tendencies, but the insignificant attention results suggested that mindfulness did not particularly help the participants withstand environmental distractions. This could however, have been due to experimental limitations, and this study should be replicated with larger sample sizes or different age groups and investigated further. Key words: mindfulness, postural control, attention, eye movements Bachelor of Science (Sport Science and Management) 2014-04-21T03:08:07Z 2014-04-21T03:08:07Z 2014 2014 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/59012 en 40 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle DRNTU::Social sciences::Psychology::Experimental psychology
Cheong, Michelle Sara Mingrong
Mindfulness effects on postural control and attention
title Mindfulness effects on postural control and attention
title_full Mindfulness effects on postural control and attention
title_fullStr Mindfulness effects on postural control and attention
title_full_unstemmed Mindfulness effects on postural control and attention
title_short Mindfulness effects on postural control and attention
title_sort mindfulness effects on postural control and attention
topic DRNTU::Social sciences::Psychology::Experimental psychology
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/59012
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