ABSTRACT

An experiment (N = 48) was conducted to investigate the effect of focused attention on working memory. Two experimental groups, meditators (n = 12) and contemporary actors (n = 12), were matched and measured on working memory and attention tests from the CANTAB battery. Meditators and contemporary actors satisfied criteria for maintaining focused attention in their practices. Focused attention is essential to induce a mystical experience, and through the performance of these groups, representing two traditionally pursued pathways to mysticism, the possible effect of mystical states on working memory was investigated. Although on most measures the groups did not differ significantly, a significant difference was found between meditators and their controls on one test measuring working memory capacity. Since these two groups were older than the actors and their controls, it was suggested that exercises of focused attention might contribute in delaying the normal degeneration of higher cognitive functions in old age. The theoretical framework of this study was Baars' (1988) Global Workspace theory of consciousness, where working memory is likened to a stage over which the spotlight of attention roams. Literature implying the role of attention in consciousness, mystical experiences and the executive functions of working memory was explored.