Page 91 - Demo

89Three studies on the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program were conducted in high schools, two of the studies over a period of six months and the third one for a year. Students were randomly assigned to practice TM or to be in one of three comparison groups in which the students either: 1) napped, 2) practiced another meditation technique, or 3) just had school as usual with no treatment. The chart above shows changes in the TM students compared to other treatments for the three studies combined. TM produced highly signifi cant improvements on all variables (p values less than .001) compared to comparison groups. The meaning of the different measures is described below.%u2022 Creativity measured %u201cwhole-brained creativity,%u201d which requires intelligent thinking on the basis of balanced emotions. %u2022 Practical Intelligence measured nonintellectual abilities and attitudes that predict success in work, love, and social relationships. Increased practical intelligence helps one achieve and maintain emotional and physical well-being.%u2022 Field Independence refl ects broad comprehension with the ability to remain focused in an environment of confusion. People who are more fi eld independent are better able to see other people%u2019s perspectives, more able to organize their thoughts, and less infl uenced by social pressure. %u2022 Inspection Time is a computerized test of speed of decision-making in a complex situation. It is correlated with fl uid intelligence. %u2022 Fluid Intelligence is the ability to fi nd solutions in novel situations for which prior education (%u201cbook learning%u201d) does not prepare one.%u2022 State Anxiety is how anxious one is at the current moment. %u2022 Trait Anxiety is how anxious one is in general.0.900.700.500.300.10-0.10-0.30-0.50CreativityPracticalIntelligence FieldIndependenceInspection TimeFluidIntelligenceState AnxietyTraitAnxietyEfiect Size(Standard Deviations)Increased General Cognitive Abilityand Decreased Anxietytm-006INCREASED INTELLIGENCE, LESS STRESS & ANXIETYReference: So, K. T., & Orme-Johnson, D. W. (2001). Three randomized experiments on the holistic longitudinal effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique on cognition. Intelligence, 29(5), 419%u2013440.