A Comparative Study of Writing, Mindfulness, and Prayer Effects on Attention Network Task Performance

Mindfulness (Tang et al., 2007), prayer (Adams et al., 2017), and writing (Klein & Boals, 2001a) are all interventions that have been associated with varying degrees of improvement in attention or working memory. Given that there is some evidence that each of these interventions is effective at improving performance in attention-type tasks, the current study was designed to determine whether the effectiveness of these interventions is comparable or whether it differs in type, magnitude, or mechanism. To that end, the current study includes a thorough examination of the current literature on the effects of prayer, meditation, and writing on attention performance and an empirical investigation of each intervention’s effects on overall performance on the Attention Network Task (ANT; Posner & Petersen, 1990). Participants completed the ANT both before and after a 10 minute intervention period, during which they completed one of the three inerventions of interest (writing, prayer, meditation) or a control activity (free thinking). No intervention effects were detected, even after accounting for differences in self-reported distress, religiosity, affective state, and mindfulness tendencies. There are a few possible reasons for the lack of intervention effects, including low statistical power, ineffective intervention parameters, and the selection of the outcome measure.