Recent research has demonstrated that mindfulness-based meditation facilitates basic aspects of cognition, including memory and attention. Further developing this line of inquiry, here we considered the possibility that similar effects may extend to another core psychological process—instrumental learning. To explore this matter, in combination with a probabilistic selection task, computational modelling (i.e., reinforcement drift diffusion model analysis) was adopted to establish whether and how brief mindfulness-based meditation influences learning under conditions of uncertainty (i.e., choices based on the perceived likelihood of positive and negative outcomes). Three effects were observed. Compared with performance in the control condition (i.e., no meditation), mindfulness-based meditation (1) accelerated the rate of learning following positive prediction errors; (2) elicited a preference for the exploration (vs. exploitation) of choice selections; and (3) increased response caution. Collectively, these findings elucidate the pathways through which brief meditative experiences impact learning and decision-making, with implications for interventions designed to debias aspects of social-cognitive functioning using mindfulness-based meditation.

中文翻译：

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基于正念的简短冥想可提高积极预测错误后的学习速度

最近的研究表明，基于正念的冥想有助于认知的基本方面，包括记忆和注意力。进一步发展这一研究方向，我们考虑了类似效应可能延伸到另一个核心心理过程——工具学习的可能性。为了探索这个问题，结合概率选择任务，采用计算模型（即强化漂移扩散模型分析）来确定短暂的正念冥想是否以及如何影响不确定条件下的学习（即基于感知的选择）积极和消极结果的可能性）。观察到三种效果。与控制条件（即无冥想）下的表现相比，基于正念的冥想（1）加快了积极预测错误后的学习速度；(2) 引发对选择选择的探索（与利用）的偏好；(3) 提高应对谨慎性。总的来说，这些发现阐明了短暂的冥想体验影响学习和决策的途径，并对旨在使用基于正念的冥想消除社会认知功能方面的偏见的干预措施产生了影响。