Effect of transcendental meditation on the performance of some cognitive psychological tests
Verma, I.C.; Jayashankarappa, B.S.; Palani, M.
Indian Journal of Medical Research 76(Suppl): 136-143
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-5340 PMID: 6764454 Document Number: 193794
A controlled study was carried out to determine whether the practice of transcendental meditation (TM) could improve cognitive performance on psychological tests. Ten tests, i.e. cancellation of number 9, digit span, alphabet, nonsense syllables, paired association of words, coding, reproduction of geometric figures, recognition of geometric figures, arithmetic and Raven's standard progressive matrices were selected because of their simplicity in administration and objectivity in measuring the performance. The subjects were boys aged 12-18 yr selected from a Correctional School and matched for age group, education and nature of commitment to the Correctional School. Boys (23) who practised TM for 6 mo. showed improvement over the control group (15 in number) in a number of tests. The improvement was statistically significant only in case of the coding, time factor, (P < 0.001) and on Raven's standard progressive matrices (P < 0.05). With the arithmetic test, the improvement of the experimental group over the control group just fell short of being significant. Six mo. of regular practice of TM could improve higher and more complex mental functions like ability to learn new material (coding test), observation and ability to think clearly (Raven's Progressive Matrices Test) and ability to manipulate abstract concepts (Arithmetic ability), which correlate well with general intelligence. With the tests which measure less complicated mental functions and have low correlation with general intelligence (like cancellation of number 9 and digit span etc.), the influence of TM on the performance was less.