Walking Boosts Creativity - even if it is just around the office!
People who rely on walks to overcome writer’s block or solve a tricky problem seem to have it right: new research shows that walking – whether indoors or outdoors – can encourage creative thought.
Researchers at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education, United States, conducted experiments on 176 people and found that participants who walked, rather than sitting or being pushed in a wheelchair, gave more creative responses on tests used to measure creative thinking.
This study suggests that walking can have a very temporary effect on certain kinds of thinking.
Co-author Dr Daniel L. Schwartz. explained, “We wanted to see if a simple walk might lead to more free-flowing thoughts and more creativity.”
In one test, researchers named an object, then asked a subgroup of 48 students to think of alternative ways to use it. So, “button” might lead a student to say “as a doorknob on a dollhouse”.
In another test, 48 students were asked to complete word associations involving three-word groups – for example, “cottage-Swiss-cake”, for which the correct answer was “cheese”.
Of the students tested while walking, 100% came up with more creative ideas in one experiment, and over 80% came up with more creative responses in every experiment!
Whether indoors or outdoors, the walkers had more creative responses!
So, next time you are stuck with a problem or searching for an idea, take a walk, even if it is just around the office, or, if there is a bit of green near you, five or ten minutes of pacing, walking or strolling might save you hours of head scratching!
Researchers at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education, United States, conducted experiments on 176 people and found that participants who walked, rather than sitting or being pushed in a wheelchair, gave more creative responses on tests used to measure creative thinking.
This study suggests that walking can have a very temporary effect on certain kinds of thinking.
Co-author Dr Daniel L. Schwartz. explained, “We wanted to see if a simple walk might lead to more free-flowing thoughts and more creativity.”
In one test, researchers named an object, then asked a subgroup of 48 students to think of alternative ways to use it. So, “button” might lead a student to say “as a doorknob on a dollhouse”.
In another test, 48 students were asked to complete word associations involving three-word groups – for example, “cottage-Swiss-cake”, for which the correct answer was “cheese”.
Of the students tested while walking, 100% came up with more creative ideas in one experiment, and over 80% came up with more creative responses in every experiment!
Whether indoors or outdoors, the walkers had more creative responses!
So, next time you are stuck with a problem or searching for an idea, take a walk, even if it is just around the office, or, if there is a bit of green near you, five or ten minutes of pacing, walking or strolling might save you hours of head scratching!
TheStarOnline.
|
Similar Mind Power Articles
|