Amishi P. Jha, Elizabeth A. Stanley, and Michael J. Baime. "What does Mindfulness Training Strengthen? Working Memory Capacity as a Functional Marker of Training Success." Assessing Mindfulness and Acceptance in Clients: Illuminating the Theory and Practice of Change. Ed. Ruth Baer. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Press, 2010: 207-221
There is growing evidence that mindfulness training (MT) improves both ‘cold’ cognitive processes related to attention as well as ‘hot’ processes tied to stress, well-being, and affect regulation. In this chapter we explore the theoretical position that MT cultivates strengthens ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ control processes by bolstering working memory capacity (WMC). WMC is the capacity to select, maintain, and manipulate behaviorally relevant information without getting distracted by behaviorally irrelevant information over very short time intervals. While very few studies have empirically connected MT with WMC, we argue, herein, that a long and rich literature on WMC, and recent evidence from our research leads to the prediction that WMC is an important functional marker of training success during mindfulness training protocols.
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