Quiet Time

Background

In daily life we tend to be constantly doing things – reading, concentrating, analyzing, problem solving, and so on. Most experiments in cognitive science involve doing things to participants (i.e., perturbing them in some way) or having participants do things themselves. There is much less work on what happens in the absence of doing/perturbation. In daily life, and in cognitive and contemplative science, it is generally understood that doing nothing is unpleasant and difficult.

Research Questions / Hypotheses

In this study we are seeking to find out what happens in mind (i.e., subjective experience) and body (specifically, heart signal – ECG) when people engage in a formal practice of doing nothing.

Participants

We had a total of 330 participants. There were seven exclusions, which left 323. Of these, 297 were REP participants.

Methods

Each participant was randomized to one of three "Quiet Time" exercises: Do Nothing Practice, Focused Attention Practice, or Audiobook. The Do Nothing and Focused Attention practices were closely based on established forms of meditation. The Audiobook was an excerpt from a Bill Bryson book. Towards the beginning of the testing session participants were left alone for 5 minutes while we recorded their baseline ECG. Later in the session participants were left alone again to do the relevant 15 minute Quiet Time exercise. Instructions for the exercise were provided by audio recording played on laptop speakers. At the end of the exercise participants completed an online questionnaire asking about various dimensions of their experience. We conducted two studies. In Study 1 instructions for the Do Nothing and Focused Attention practices were spread throughout the Quiet Time exercise, with seven short blocks of silence interspersed. In Study 2 instructions for those practices were provided upfront and were followed by one long silence. All participants in first semester did Study 1. Some participants in second semester did Study 1 and others did Study 2.

Results

In both studies, Do Nothing Practice participants typically reported that the experience was highly positive and pleasant, that there was a high degree of calm, relaxation, and rest, that there was little discomfort, tension, anxiety, worry, restlessness, or boredom, and that the session was easy. The primary self-report measures in the study were the "Calm Composite" (average of self-reported calm, relaxation, ease, and rest) and Difficulty/Easiness, and on both these measures there were no significant differences across the three groups (Do Nothing Practice, Focused Attention Practice, and Audiobook). Another primary measure was heart rate variability (HRV). In Study 2 we found that, for participants with low baseline HRV, HRV was significantly higher in the Do Nothing Practice than in the Focused Attention Practice and the Audiobook.

Implications

Our findings indicate that engaging in a formal practice of doing nothing is calming, pleasant, and easy. This contrasts with the common understanding that doing nothing is unpleasant and difficult. HRV is an indicator of parasympathetic nervous system activation, which is associated with increased relaxation or reduced arousal. The HRV finding in Study 2 indicates that Do Nothing Practice provides a greater boost to parasympathetic activation than the Focused Attention Practice and Audiobook, for participants with low baseline HRV (who may be the participants most in need of such a boost). Findings from the studies will be included in domestic and international conference presentations and in one or more articles published in high quality journal/s.