THE MINDFULNESS OF OSTENSIBLY THOUGHTLESS ACTION

The concept of mindlessness is illustrated through discussion of a stu dy conducted by Langer, Blank, and Chanowitz (1978, Experiment 1). We suggest that the dependent measure used in that study was an inappropr iate index of mindlessness. We replicate the pattern of compliance dat a obtained by Langer et al. (1978, Experiment 1) but demonstrate mindf ulness in situations ostensibly conducive to mindlessness. Two subsequ ent examples of mindlessness research by Langer and Imber (1979, 1980) are discussed We conclude that, in its present form, the concept of m indlessness is not adequately supported by the empirical evidence coll ected to date.