Testing mindfulness with perceptual and cognitive factors: External vs. internal encoding, and the cognitive failures questionnaire

A new approach to testing mindfulness in relation to perceptual and cognitive factors is presented. In two studies a total of 142 participants were tested using a measure of mindfulness and a measure of thoroughness in perceptual processing (“external encoding”). Mindfulness was shown to be correlated with external encoding (study 1) and both mindfulness and external encoding predicted low “cognitive failures” (study 2). Results are discussed in terms of their implications for possible mechanisms responsible for the benefits of mindfulness in psychological well-being.