#440 Effort & Inhibition May Differ in Different Contexts

     "According to attention restoration theory (ART), directed attention is voluntary, central to maintaining focus, controls distractions through inhibitory mechanisms, and requires effort. It is vulnerable to fatigue and becomes less effective with sustained use, leading to reduced ability to focus attention, increased performance errors, and heightened irritability. When directed attention fatigue occurs in response to intense and sustained mental effort, individuals experience a condition commonly referred to as mental fatigue."

       Felsten G. Where to take a study break on the college campus: An attention restoration theory perspective. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2009; 29(1): 160-167.

     Acceptance and displacement differ qualitatively from inhibition. The effort used in meditation to stabilize attention is again qualitatively different from how we normally conceive of effort. If "effort" is not expended on things like "inhibition," maybe "fatigue" is not an issue at all in mindfulness. Mindfulness may even be energizing.
     See: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/11/435-right-effort-does-not-take-but.html

Greg Burke   www.dpreview.com