Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind

Personality & social psychology bulletin, 2017

In this research, we showed that solitude generally has a deactivation effect on people's affective experiences, decreasing both positive and negative high-arousal affects. In Study 1, we found that the deactivation effect occurred when people were alone, but not when they were with another person. Study 2 showed that this deactivation effect did not depend on whether or not the person was engaged in an activity such as reading when alone. In Study 3, high-arousal positive affect did not drop in a solitude condition in which participants specifically engaged in positive thinking or when they actively chose what to think about. Finally, in Study 4, we found that solitude could lead to relaxation and reduced stress when individuals actively chose to be alone. This research thus shed light on solitude effects in the past literature, and on people's experiences when alone and the different factors that moderate these effects.

Behaviour Research and Therapy, 1994

Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 1995

Neutralization and avoidance play a key role in current models of OCD and GAD. This study examines strategies used when intrusive thoughts occur as a function of potential discriminative stimuli (sequences, context, thought appraisal), mood state, and efficacy. Structured interviews identified strategies used by 53 normal subjects when the most frequent intrusive thought occmred. The seven major strategies used to cope with the thoughts were physical action, thought replacement, analyzing the thought, talking to others, thought stopping, attempts to convince that the thought has no importance, and doing nothing. Results suggest that the choice of a strategy is not random; some strategies were used in particular situations, in specific sequences, and according to the intensity and appraisal of the intrusive thought. All strategies were equahy efficient (or inefftcient) and efficacy was not associated with thought characteristics. Thought appraisal was related to mood intensity, whereas depressed mood was associated with lower efficacy of strategies. The specific and differential effects of mood intensity and type need to be integrated into current models of intrusive cognition and GCD.

Psychological assessment, 2016

Mindfulness-based interventions are believed to counteract cognitive biases that exacerbate cognitive and physiological reactivity to emotional experiences and that contribute to the development and persistence of psychopathology. One process by which mindful practices may produce such salutary effects is by enhancing the capacity to "decenter"-or to adopt a self-distanced, nonjudgmental perspective on conscious experiences (e.g., thoughts, memories, and feelings). Findings consistently indicate that decentering, assessed via self-report, represents an important aspect of mental health and well-being; however, numerous researchers have called for more objective measures of skills associated with mindfulness and decentering to further evaluate the mechanisms and benefits of mindfulness-based practices. Thus, in the current investigation, we developed a behavioral task that requires mental manipulation of negative emotional (and neutral) material away from the self (self-dis...

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1985

Four studies examined whether verbal behavior is mindful (cognitive) or mindless (automatic). All used Langer, Blank, and Chanowitz's (1978) experimental paradigm. Experimenters approached subjects at copying machines and asked to use it first. Their requests varied in the amount and kind of information given. Study 1 found less compliance when experimenters gave a controllable reason (".. . because I don't want to wait") than an uncontrollable reason (".. . because I feel really sick"). In Studies 2 and 3, requests for controllable reasons elicited less compliance than requests used in the Langer et al. study. Neither study replicated Langer ct al.'s results. Furthermore, the controllable condition's lower compliance supports a cognitive approach to social interaction. In the fourth study subjects were given instructions intended to increase cognitive processing of the requests and the pattern of compliance indicated in-depth processing of the request. Results of the four studies provide evidence for cognitive processing rather than mindlessness in social interaction.

Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 2014

The authors describe "solitude theory," a "lonely" branch of psychological research and theory, at present cut off from reigning contemporary viewpoints, in particular attachment theory. After presenting the history and present state of solitude theory, the authors argue that the seeming contradictions between solitude theory and attachment-centered theories are based on a certain definition of solitude-seeking behaviors, one that emphasizes "separation." In contrast, the authors suggest an integrative mode that acknowledges a paradox and a developmental dialectic at play between solitude and relatedness, the product of which is a state of health requiring experiences of both. Stated simply, a positive experience of solitude is only possible when one is securely attached and secure attachment requires the potential for aloneness.

Clinical Psychology Review, 2000

The process of consciously trying to avoid certain thoughts is referred to as thought suppression. Experimental research has documented that thought suppression may have paradoxical effects in that it leads to an increased frequency of the to-be-suppressed thought intruding consciousness. It has also been claimed that suppression has disruptive effects on episodic memory (i.e., a less paradoxical effect). The present article critically evaluates studies on the paradoxical and less paradoxical effects of thought suppression. More specifically, the issue of whether thought suppression plays a causative role in the development of various psychopathological symptoms is addressed. While laboratory studies have come up with highly consistent findings about the paradoxical effects of thought suppression, there is, as yet, little reason to believe that such effects are implicated in the etiology of obsessions, phobias, or other psychopathological conditions. Relatively little work has been done on the alleged memory effects of thought suppression. The studies that have examined this issue have found mixed results. Accordingly, the case for the amnestic power of thought suppression is weak. Alternative explanations and competing theories are discussed, and it is concluded that research concerned with the psychopathological consequences of thought suppression would benefit from development of better taxonomies of intrusive thinking and cognitive avoidance strategies.

2007

Mindfulness and mindlessness are often theoretically and psychometrically treated as opposing poles of a single dimension (e.g. Langer, 1989; Kabat-Zinn, 1990; Brown & Ryan, 2003). The present study examines the possibility of two differing styles of mindlessness, an oblivious form based upon defensive avoidance of experience and a reactive form based upon ruminative reaction to experience. These differing styles of mindless are theoretically similar to adult attachment status. The avoidant attachment style is conceptually related to an oblivious style of mindlessness in that both involve a defensive denial of certain aspects of experience, particularly those aspects that evoke feelings of vulnerability or emotional distress. The preoccupied adult attachment style is similar to the reactive style of mindlessness in that both involve a hyper-focus on emotionally distressing experiences and a subsequent affective destabilization. Given these similarities, the present study explored reactive and oblivious mindlessness by examining the interaction of mindfulness and adult attachment status. Adult attachment status is profoundly related to autobiographical narrative (e.g. Main, 1996; Mikulincer & Orbach, 1995). Accordingly, narrative measures were used to explore the relationship of attachment status and mindfulness. Among participants with a preoccupied attachment status, mindfulness predicted decreased emotional articulacy. Among avoidant participants mindfulness predicted decreased emotional articulacy and increased complexity of representations of self and others. In contrast, among secure participants mindfulness had no relationship to narrative measures. These results suggest that mindfulness functions as a protective factor against the distressing rumination associated with emotional articulacy among iv those with an insecure attachment status. They also provide preliminary support for a theory of reactive and oblivious mindlessness and highlight the value of further research examining the interaction of mindfulness and attachment status. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION Clinical Applications of Mindfulness……………………………… 1 Autobiographical Memory and Narrative………………………….. 5 Development of Mindfulness Theory……………………………… 8 Two States of Mindlessness: Oblivious and Reactive……………... 11 Functions of Autobiographical Narrative………………………….. 14 Analyzing Narrative: Dimensions of Individual Difference……….. 19 Hypothetical Qualities of a Mindful Narrative…………………….. 23 Attachment Style and Mindfulness………………………………… 35 Objectives of the Study…………………………………………….. 36 II. METHOD Participants…………………………………………………………. 38 Procedure…………………………………………………………... 38 Measures…………………………………………………………… 39 III. RESULTS Demographics……………………………………………………… 49 Reliability…………………………………………………………... 49 Descriptive Statistics……………………………………………….. 50 Hypotheses…………………………………………………………. 51 Correlations between Mindfulness and Predicted Criterion……….. 54 Correlations of Narrative Measures and Predicted Criterion………. 55 Group Differences in Attachment Style……………………………. 56 IV. DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………... 58 Reliability and Validity…………………………………………….. 59 Speculations………………………………………………………... 65 Implications for Future Research…………………………………... 70 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………….

Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy, 1981

2005

When comparing the human mind to that of other animals, several properties have been proposed as uniquely characterising human thinking. We are said to be alone in having a symbolic language, a free will, self-consciousness, and a sense of humor. I do not believe, however, that a sharp borderline can be drawn between human and animal cognition. Rather, human thinking has evolved away from that of our common ancestors among the primates in a series of small steps.

Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 2010

The belief that we can control our thoughts is not inevitably adaptive, particularly when it fuels mental control activities that have ironic unintended consequences. The conviction that the mind can and should be controlled can prompt people to suppress unwanted thoughts, and so can set the stage for the intrusive return of those very thoughts. An important question is whether or not these beliefs about the control of thoughts can be reduced experimentally. One possibility is that behavioral experiments aimed at revealing the ironic return of suppressed thoughts might create a lesson that could reduce unrealistic beliefs about the control of thoughts. Aims: The present research assessed the influence of the thought suppression demonstration on beliefs about the control of thoughts in a non-clinical sample, and among individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Method: In Study 1, we assessed the effect of the thought suppression demonstration on beliefs about the control of thoughts among low and high obsessive individuals in the non-clinical population (N = 62). In Study 2, we conducted a similar study with individuals with OCD (N = 29). Results: Results suggest that high obsessive individuals in the non-clinical population are able to learn the futility of suppression through the thought suppression demonstration and to alter their faulty beliefs about the control of thoughts; however, for individuals with OCD, the demonstration may be insufficient for altering underlying beliefs. Conclusions: For individuals with OCD, the connection between Reprint requests to Sadia Najmi, Joint Doctoral Program at © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2009 2 S. Najmi et al.

Behaviour Research and Therapy, 1993

on thought suppression has yielded a morass of conflicting results. While some studies show that suppression of a thought results in a rebound effect (i.e. a heightened frequency of this thought later on), other studies failed to demonstrate this phenomenon. The first aim of the present study was to investigate whether the method used to study stream of consciousness (verbalization vs thinking silently) affects the report of target thoughts in a thought suppression experiment. Second, the claim that environmental cuing (i.e. distraction by directing attention towards external cues) is the mechanism behind the recurrence of suppressed items was examined. Results indicated that the method used to monitor stream ofconsciousness did not modulate the report of target thought: in fact, no rebound effect occurred. However, results did support the suggestion that heightened frequencies of suppressed material are related to environmental cuing.

Mind wandering reduces both the sensory and cognitive processing of affectively neutral stimuli, but whether it also modulates the processing of affectively salient stimuli remains unclear. In particular, we examined whether mind wandering attenuates one's sensitivity to observing mild pain in others. In the first experiment, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) as participants viewed images of hands in either painful or neutral situations, while being prompted at random intervals to report whether their thoughts were on task or mind wandering. We found that the brain's later response to painful images was significantly reduced immediately preceding "mind-wandering" versus "on-task" reports, as measured via amplitude decreases in a frontal-central positivity beginning approximately 300 ms poststimulus. In a second, control experiment using behavioral measures, we wanted to confirm whether the subjective sense of pain observed in others does in fact decrease during mind wandering. Accordingly, we asked participants to rate how painful the hand images looked on a 5-point Likert scale, again while taking reports of their mindwandering states at unpredictable intervals. Consistent with our ERP data, we found that the ratings for painful images were significantly reduced immediately preceding mindwandering reports. Additional control analyses suggested that the effect could not simply be ascribed to general habituation in the affective response to painful images over time. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that mind wandering can directly modulate the cortical processing of affectively salient stimulus inputs, serving in this case to reduce sensitivity to the physical discomfort of others.

Personality and Individual Differences, 2009

Whereas a variety of research has investigated how individual differences moderate attitude change (persuasion) processes, there is a relative dearth of research investigating how such individual differences moderate behavior change (compliance) processes. The current research assessed the extent to which two well-studied personality traits predicted susceptibility to the mindlessness technique . After completing need for cognition and self-monitoring scales, participants were asked to make photocopies for the experimenter. At the copy machine, a confederate asked to cut in line, providing no reason, a real reason, or a placebic reason. Results replicated those of : The placebic reason elicited as much compliance as the real reason. Need for cognition did not moderate compliance, and participants high in self-monitoring were less likely to comply across conditions. In addition, participants who refused the request took significantly longer to respond than participants who complied. Our research therefore provides insight into a largely neglected field of study: How and when individual differences moderate behavior change processes.