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Jake H. Davis

New York University, Philosophy, Post-Doc

Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Philosophy, Graduate Student

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I am currently a Postdoctoral Associate with the Virtues of Attention project at New York University, and have taught at Brown University and at the City of College of New York. I earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from CUNY Graduate Center, with an Interdisciplinary Concentration in Cognitive Science, as well as a Masters in Philosophy from the University of Hawai`i. My research at the intersection of Buddhist philosophy, moral philosophy, and cognitive science draws on my textual, meditative, and monastic training in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition of Burma (Myanmar), including work as an interpreter and teacher at meditation retreats.
Supervisors: Jonardon Ganeri (Postdoctoral Supervisor, NYU), Jesse Prinz (PhD Supervisor, CUNY Graduate Center), and Arindam Chakrabarti (MA Supervisor, University of Hawai`i)

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Papers by Jake H. Davis

The Embodiment of Virtue: Toward a Cross-Cultural Cognitive Science

The Scope for Wisdom: Early Buddhism on Reasons and Persons

To this extent, Ā nanda, one is born and ages and dies and passes away and takes birth again. To ... more To this extent, Ā nanda, one is born and ages and dies and passes away and takes birth again. To this extent there is a path for designations, a path for expressions, a path for concepts. To this extent there is scope for wisdom. To this extent the cycle continues for being here to be conceived. That is, to the extent that name-and-form together with consciousness continue through dependence on one another. (Mah ā nid ā na Sutta , DN II 63– 64) 1

Awakening is not a metaphor: the effects of Buddhist meditation practices on basic wakefulness

by Jake H. Davis, B.Rael Cahn, and Rael Cahn

Buddhist meditation practices have become a topic of widespread interest in both science and medi... more Buddhist meditation practices have become a topic of widespread interest in both science and medicine. Traditional Buddhist formulations describe meditation as a state of relaxed alertness that must guard against both excessive hyperarousal (restlessness) and excessive hypoarousal (drowsiness, sleep). Modern applications of meditation have emphasized the hypoarousing and relaxing effects without as much emphasis on the arousing or alertness-promoting effects. In an attempt to counterbalance the plethora of data demonstrating the relaxing and hypoarousing effects of Buddhist meditation, this interdisciplinary review aims to provide evidence of meditation's arousing or wake-promoting effects by drawing both from Buddhist textual sources and from scientific studies, including subjective, behavioral, and neuroimaging studies during wakefulness, meditation, and sleep. Factors that may influence whether meditation increases or decreases arousal are discussed, with particular emphasis on dose, expertise, and contempla-tive trajectory. The course of meditative progress suggests a nonlinear multiphasic trajectory, such that early phases that are more effortful may produce more fatigue and sleep propensity, while later stages produce greater wakefulness as a result of neuroplastic changes and more efficient processing.

Developing Attention and Decreasing Affective Bias: Toward a Cross-Cultural Cognitive Science of Mindfulness

Can enlightenment be traced to specific neural correlates, cognition, or behavior? No, and (a qualified) Yes

by Jake H. Davis and David Vago

Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report

by Jake H. Davis, Judson Brewer, Thomas Thornhill, and Juan Santoyo

Neurophenomenological studies seek to utilize first-person self-report to elucidate cognitive pro... more Neurophenomenological studies seek to utilize first-person self-report to elucidate cognitive processes related to physiological data. Grounded theory offers an approach to the qualitative analysis of self-report, whereby theoretical constructs are derived from empirical data. Here we used grounded theory methodology (GTM) to assess how the first-person experience of meditation relates to neural activity in a core region of the default mode network—the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). We analyzed first-person data consisting of meditators' accounts of their subjective experience during runs of a real time fMRI neurofeedback study of meditation, and third-person data consisting of corresponding feedback graphs of PCC activity during the same runs. We found that for meditators, the subjective experiences of " undistracted awareness " such as " concentration " and " observing sensory experience, " and " effortless doing " such as " observing sensory experience, " " not efforting, " and " contentment, " correspond with PCC deactivation. Further, the subjective experiences of " distracted awareness " such as " distraction " and " interpreting, " and " controlling " such as " efforting " and " discontentment, " correspond with PCC activation. Moreover, we derived several novel hypotheses about how specific qualities of cognitive processes during meditation relate to PCC activity, such as the difference between meditation and " trying to meditate. " These findings offer novel insights into the relationship between meditation and mind wandering or self-related thinking and neural activity in the default mode network, driven by first-person reports.

Development and Validation of the Behavioral Tendencies Questionnaire

by Jake H. Davis and Judson Brewer

At a fundamental level, taxonomy of behavior and behavioral tendencies can be described in terms ... more At a fundamental level, taxonomy of behavior and behavioral tendencies can be described in terms of approach, avoid, or equivocate (i.e., neither approach nor avoid). While there are numerous theories of personality, temperament, and character, few seem to take advantage of parsimonious taxonomy. The present study sought to implement this taxonomy by creating a questionnaire based on a categorization of behavioral temperaments/tendencies first identified in Buddhist accounts over fifteen hundred years ago. Items were developed using historical and contemporary texts of the behavioral temperaments, described as " Greedy/Faithful " , " Aversive/Discerning " , and " Deluded/Speculative ". To both maintain this categorical typology and benefit from the advantageous properties of forced-choice response format (e.g., reduction of response biases), binary pairwise preferences for items were modeled using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). One sample (n 1 = 394) was used to estimate the item parameters, and the second sample (n 2 = 504) was used to classify the participants using the established parameters and cross-validate the classification against multiple other measures. The cross-validated measure exhibited good nomothetic span (construct-consistent relationships with related measures) that seemed to corroborate the ideas present in the original Buddhist source documents. The final 13-block questionnaire created from the best performing items (the Behavioral Tendencies Questionnaire or BTQ) is a psychometrically valid questionnaire that is historically consistent, based in behavioral tendencies, and promises practical and clinical utility particularly in settings that teach and study meditation practices such as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).

Facing Up to the Question of Ethics in Mindfulness-Based Interventions

Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report

by Jake H. Davis and Thomas Thornhill

Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2013

Neurophenomenological studies seek to utilize first-person self-report to elucidate cognitive pro... more Neurophenomenological studies seek to utilize first-person self-report to elucidate cognitive processes related to physiological data. Grounded theory offers an approach to the qualitative analysis of self-report, whereby theoretical constructs are derived from empirical data. Here we used grounded theory methodology (GTM) to assess how the first-person experience of meditation relates to neural activity in a core region of the default mode network-the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). We analyzed first-person data consisting of meditators' accounts of their subjective experience during runs of a real time fMRI neurofeedback study of meditation, and third-person data consisting of corresponding feedback graphs of PCC activity during the same runs. We found that for meditators, the subjective experiences of "undistracted awareness" such as "concentration" and "observing sensory experience," and "effortless doing" such as "observing sensory experience," "not efforting," and "contentment," correspond with PCC deactivation. Further, the subjective experiences of "distracted awareness" such as "distraction" and "interpreting," and "controlling" such as "efforting" and "discontentment," correspond with PCC activation. Moreover, we derived several novel hypotheses about how specific qualities of cognitive processes during meditation relate to PCC activity, such as the difference between meditation and "trying to meditate." These findings offer novel insights into the relationship between meditation and mind wandering or self-related thinking and neural activity in the default mode network, driven by first-person reports.

From the Five Aggregates to Phenomenal Consciousness: Toward a Cross-Cultural Cognitive Science

Buddhism originated and developed in an Indian cultural context that featured many first-person p... more Buddhism originated and developed in an Indian cultural context that featured many first-person practices for producing and exploring states of consciousness through the systematic training of attention. In contrast, the dominant methods of investigating the mind in Western cognitive science have emphasized third-person observation of the brain and behavior. In this chapter, we explore how these two different projects might prove mutually beneficial. We lay the groundwork for a cross-cultural cognitive science by using one traditional Buddhist model of the mind – that of the five aggregates – as a lens for examining contemporary cognitive science conceptions of consciousness.

Craving to Quit: Psychological Models and Neurobiological Mechanisms of Mindfulness Training as Treatment for Addictions

Humans suffer heavily from substance use disorders and other addictions. Despite much effort that... more Humans suffer heavily from substance use disorders and other addictions. Despite much effort that has been put into understanding the mechanisms of the addictive process, treatment strategies have remained suboptimal over the past several decades. Mindfulness training, which is based on ancient Buddhist models of human suffering, has recently shown preliminary efficacy in treating addictions. These early models show remarkable similarity to current models of the addictive process, especially in their overlap with operant conditioning (positive and negative reinforcement). Further, they may provide explanatory power for the mechanisms of mindfulness training, including its effects on core addictive elements, such as craving, and the underlying neurobiological processes that may be active therein. In this review, using smoking as an example, we will highlight similarities between ancient and modern views of the addictive process, review studies of mindfulness training for addictions and their effects on craving and other components of this process, and discuss recent neuroimaging findings that may inform our understanding of the neural mechanisms of mindfulness training.

Why is it so hard to pay attention, or is it? Mindfulness, the factors of awakening and reward-based learning

Though relatively new to Western psychological and spiritual cultures, mindfulness training is be... more Though relatively new to Western psychological and spiritual cultures, mindfulness training is becoming more widespread in the general public and is beginning to show promise therapeutically for maladies ranging from generalized stress to specific addictions. However, difficulties remain both with individuals being able to learn core concepts and techniques, such as concentration meditation, and more broadly, with treatment interventions not being optimized to helping individuals learn these. In this manuscript, we examine possible contributing factors to these difficulties. We bring together what is known scientifically about basic learning processes such as operant conditioning with some inspirational suggestions drawn from the early Buddhist dialogues collected in the Theravada Buddhist cannon, in particular the description of seven psychological factors known as “the factors of awakening”. Bringing together scientific and textual suggestions, we give an overview of how primary operant conditioning processes lead to stress, and importantly, how a minor shift in emphasis in providing mindfulness training may indeed co-opt these very processes for the reduction and cessation of stress and suffering. Finally, we provide suggestions as to how these can be tracked individually and clinically over time.

Mindfulness and the Addictive Process: psychological models and neurobiological mechanisms

What Feels Right about Right Action?

Talks by Jake H. Davis

“What Feels Right, for All of Us: a Buddhist response to moral relativism”

“Acting Wide Awake: attention and the ethics of emotion”

“The Role of Second-order Affective Attitudes in Moral Judgment”

“Affective Proliferation as the Root of Suffering: Neither Subjects nor Objects are the Problem”

“Discovering Conscious Experience:  Philosophical Debates and Practical Relevance”

“From Mindfulness to Wisdom: Scientific Approaches” (in Burmese)

The Embodiment of Virtue: Toward a Cross-Cultural Cognitive Science

The Scope for Wisdom: Early Buddhism on Reasons and Persons

To this extent, Ā nanda, one is born and ages and dies and passes away and takes birth again. To ... more To this extent, Ā nanda, one is born and ages and dies and passes away and takes birth again. To this extent there is a path for designations, a path for expressions, a path for concepts. To this extent there is scope for wisdom. To this extent the cycle continues for being here to be conceived. That is, to the extent that name-and-form together with consciousness continue through dependence on one another. (Mah ā nid ā na Sutta , DN II 63– 64) 1

Awakening is not a metaphor: the effects of Buddhist meditation practices on basic wakefulness

by Jake H. Davis, B.Rael Cahn, and Rael Cahn

Buddhist meditation practices have become a topic of widespread interest in both science and medi... more Buddhist meditation practices have become a topic of widespread interest in both science and medicine. Traditional Buddhist formulations describe meditation as a state of relaxed alertness that must guard against both excessive hyperarousal (restlessness) and excessive hypoarousal (drowsiness, sleep). Modern applications of meditation have emphasized the hypoarousing and relaxing effects without as much emphasis on the arousing or alertness-promoting effects. In an attempt to counterbalance the plethora of data demonstrating the relaxing and hypoarousing effects of Buddhist meditation, this interdisciplinary review aims to provide evidence of meditation's arousing or wake-promoting effects by drawing both from Buddhist textual sources and from scientific studies, including subjective, behavioral, and neuroimaging studies during wakefulness, meditation, and sleep. Factors that may influence whether meditation increases or decreases arousal are discussed, with particular emphasis on dose, expertise, and contempla-tive trajectory. The course of meditative progress suggests a nonlinear multiphasic trajectory, such that early phases that are more effortful may produce more fatigue and sleep propensity, while later stages produce greater wakefulness as a result of neuroplastic changes and more efficient processing.

Developing Attention and Decreasing Affective Bias: Toward a Cross-Cultural Cognitive Science of Mindfulness

Can enlightenment be traced to specific neural correlates, cognition, or behavior? No, and (a qualified) Yes

by Jake H. Davis and David Vago

Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report

by Jake H. Davis, Judson Brewer, Thomas Thornhill, and Juan Santoyo

Neurophenomenological studies seek to utilize first-person self-report to elucidate cognitive pro... more Neurophenomenological studies seek to utilize first-person self-report to elucidate cognitive processes related to physiological data. Grounded theory offers an approach to the qualitative analysis of self-report, whereby theoretical constructs are derived from empirical data. Here we used grounded theory methodology (GTM) to assess how the first-person experience of meditation relates to neural activity in a core region of the default mode network—the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). We analyzed first-person data consisting of meditators' accounts of their subjective experience during runs of a real time fMRI neurofeedback study of meditation, and third-person data consisting of corresponding feedback graphs of PCC activity during the same runs. We found that for meditators, the subjective experiences of " undistracted awareness " such as " concentration " and " observing sensory experience, " and " effortless doing " such as " observing sensory experience, " " not efforting, " and " contentment, " correspond with PCC deactivation. Further, the subjective experiences of " distracted awareness " such as " distraction " and " interpreting, " and " controlling " such as " efforting " and " discontentment, " correspond with PCC activation. Moreover, we derived several novel hypotheses about how specific qualities of cognitive processes during meditation relate to PCC activity, such as the difference between meditation and " trying to meditate. " These findings offer novel insights into the relationship between meditation and mind wandering or self-related thinking and neural activity in the default mode network, driven by first-person reports.

Development and Validation of the Behavioral Tendencies Questionnaire

by Jake H. Davis and Judson Brewer

At a fundamental level, taxonomy of behavior and behavioral tendencies can be described in terms ... more At a fundamental level, taxonomy of behavior and behavioral tendencies can be described in terms of approach, avoid, or equivocate (i.e., neither approach nor avoid). While there are numerous theories of personality, temperament, and character, few seem to take advantage of parsimonious taxonomy. The present study sought to implement this taxonomy by creating a questionnaire based on a categorization of behavioral temperaments/tendencies first identified in Buddhist accounts over fifteen hundred years ago. Items were developed using historical and contemporary texts of the behavioral temperaments, described as " Greedy/Faithful " , " Aversive/Discerning " , and " Deluded/Speculative ". To both maintain this categorical typology and benefit from the advantageous properties of forced-choice response format (e.g., reduction of response biases), binary pairwise preferences for items were modeled using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). One sample (n 1 = 394) was used to estimate the item parameters, and the second sample (n 2 = 504) was used to classify the participants using the established parameters and cross-validate the classification against multiple other measures. The cross-validated measure exhibited good nomothetic span (construct-consistent relationships with related measures) that seemed to corroborate the ideas present in the original Buddhist source documents. The final 13-block questionnaire created from the best performing items (the Behavioral Tendencies Questionnaire or BTQ) is a psychometrically valid questionnaire that is historically consistent, based in behavioral tendencies, and promises practical and clinical utility particularly in settings that teach and study meditation practices such as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).

Facing Up to the Question of Ethics in Mindfulness-Based Interventions

Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report

by Jake H. Davis and Thomas Thornhill

Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2013

Neurophenomenological studies seek to utilize first-person self-report to elucidate cognitive pro... more Neurophenomenological studies seek to utilize first-person self-report to elucidate cognitive processes related to physiological data. Grounded theory offers an approach to the qualitative analysis of self-report, whereby theoretical constructs are derived from empirical data. Here we used grounded theory methodology (GTM) to assess how the first-person experience of meditation relates to neural activity in a core region of the default mode network-the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). We analyzed first-person data consisting of meditators' accounts of their subjective experience during runs of a real time fMRI neurofeedback study of meditation, and third-person data consisting of corresponding feedback graphs of PCC activity during the same runs. We found that for meditators, the subjective experiences of "undistracted awareness" such as "concentration" and "observing sensory experience," and "effortless doing" such as "observing sensory experience," "not efforting," and "contentment," correspond with PCC deactivation. Further, the subjective experiences of "distracted awareness" such as "distraction" and "interpreting," and "controlling" such as "efforting" and "discontentment," correspond with PCC activation. Moreover, we derived several novel hypotheses about how specific qualities of cognitive processes during meditation relate to PCC activity, such as the difference between meditation and "trying to meditate." These findings offer novel insights into the relationship between meditation and mind wandering or self-related thinking and neural activity in the default mode network, driven by first-person reports.

From the Five Aggregates to Phenomenal Consciousness: Toward a Cross-Cultural Cognitive Science

Buddhism originated and developed in an Indian cultural context that featured many first-person p... more Buddhism originated and developed in an Indian cultural context that featured many first-person practices for producing and exploring states of consciousness through the systematic training of attention. In contrast, the dominant methods of investigating the mind in Western cognitive science have emphasized third-person observation of the brain and behavior. In this chapter, we explore how these two different projects might prove mutually beneficial. We lay the groundwork for a cross-cultural cognitive science by using one traditional Buddhist model of the mind – that of the five aggregates – as a lens for examining contemporary cognitive science conceptions of consciousness.

Craving to Quit: Psychological Models and Neurobiological Mechanisms of Mindfulness Training as Treatment for Addictions

Humans suffer heavily from substance use disorders and other addictions. Despite much effort that... more Humans suffer heavily from substance use disorders and other addictions. Despite much effort that has been put into understanding the mechanisms of the addictive process, treatment strategies have remained suboptimal over the past several decades. Mindfulness training, which is based on ancient Buddhist models of human suffering, has recently shown preliminary efficacy in treating addictions. These early models show remarkable similarity to current models of the addictive process, especially in their overlap with operant conditioning (positive and negative reinforcement). Further, they may provide explanatory power for the mechanisms of mindfulness training, including its effects on core addictive elements, such as craving, and the underlying neurobiological processes that may be active therein. In this review, using smoking as an example, we will highlight similarities between ancient and modern views of the addictive process, review studies of mindfulness training for addictions and their effects on craving and other components of this process, and discuss recent neuroimaging findings that may inform our understanding of the neural mechanisms of mindfulness training.

Why is it so hard to pay attention, or is it? Mindfulness, the factors of awakening and reward-based learning

Though relatively new to Western psychological and spiritual cultures, mindfulness training is be... more Though relatively new to Western psychological and spiritual cultures, mindfulness training is becoming more widespread in the general public and is beginning to show promise therapeutically for maladies ranging from generalized stress to specific addictions. However, difficulties remain both with individuals being able to learn core concepts and techniques, such as concentration meditation, and more broadly, with treatment interventions not being optimized to helping individuals learn these. In this manuscript, we examine possible contributing factors to these difficulties. We bring together what is known scientifically about basic learning processes such as operant conditioning with some inspirational suggestions drawn from the early Buddhist dialogues collected in the Theravada Buddhist cannon, in particular the description of seven psychological factors known as “the factors of awakening”. Bringing together scientific and textual suggestions, we give an overview of how primary operant conditioning processes lead to stress, and importantly, how a minor shift in emphasis in providing mindfulness training may indeed co-opt these very processes for the reduction and cessation of stress and suffering. Finally, we provide suggestions as to how these can be tracked individually and clinically over time.

Mindfulness and the Addictive Process: psychological models and neurobiological mechanisms

What Feels Right about Right Action?

“What Feels Right, for All of Us: a Buddhist response to moral relativism”

“Acting Wide Awake: attention and the ethics of emotion”

“The Role of Second-order Affective Attitudes in Moral Judgment”

“Affective Proliferation as the Root of Suffering: Neither Subjects nor Objects are the Problem”

“Discovering Conscious Experience:  Philosophical Debates and Practical Relevance”

“From Mindfulness to Wisdom: Scientific Approaches” (in Burmese)

“Alert and Balanced: empirical operationalization of an Early Buddhist model of mindfulness”

Attention and the Qualities of Heart

Attention and the Qualities of Heart

Attention and the Qualities of Heart

What Feels Right: A Sentimentalist Alternative to Prinz’s Sentimentalist Relativism

Attention and the Ethics of Emotion

On Westerhoff on Buddhism Without Reincarnation

Which Progress Should We Map?

On the Goodness of Goodwill in the Early Buddhist Dialogues

Psychological and Soteriological Mechanisms of Mindfulness Meditation (satipaṭṭhāna)

What Feels Right about Selflessness?

Mindfulness Training and Empathy

Attention and the Moral Sense: Meta-ethical Implications of Masked Emotional Reactions

'When you Know for Yourselves': The Establishment of Mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna) as a Means of Moral Discovery

Maria Heim: The Forerunner of All Things: Buddhaghosa on mind, intention, and agency

ACTING WIDE AWAKE: ATTENTION AND THE ETHICS OF EMOTION