Forget the old adage that the best way to solve a problem is to "sleep on it." A new study from researchers at Stanford University suggests taking a walk may actually yield better results.
"Walking opens up the free flow of ideas, and it is a simple and robust solution to the goal of increasing creativity," write authors Marily Oppezzo and Daniel Schwartz in their paper, published in this month's Journal of Experimental Psychology.
To test the influence of walking on creative thinking, Oppezzo and Schwartz divided study participants into four groups: Those who walked then sat; those who sat then walked; those who only sat; and those who walked indoors vs. outdoors. Participants were given two different tests, both widely accepted by the psychological community as valid measures of various aspects of creativity: Guilford's Alternate Uses test, or GAU (people were asked to come up with alternate uses for everyday objects in a short period of time), and the Compound Remote Association test, or CRA (people were given three unrelated words and asked to come up with a fourth word that connects with all of them. For example, upon hearing "cottage, Swiss and cake," a correct response would be "cheese.").
Overall, Oppezzo and Schwartz found, walking enhanced the performance on these creative tests, particularly the GAU: 81% of participants showed an improvement in test scores while taking a walk, regardless of whether they sat before or after. The researchers also noted that the effects of walking lingered: Even after returning to their seats, people who had taken a stroll showed a residual boost in test scores. "When there is a premium on generating new ideas in the workday, it should be beneficial to incorporate walks," they wrote.
How exactly does it work? Several theories have been posed, including the idea that walking and other forms of mild activity stimulate neural connectivity and plasticity in areas of the brain including the hippocampus, which is involved with learning and memory. Though much of the research has been done in labs, investigators such as Arthur Kramer, professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, believe their findings have broader application.
Read the full story in the USA Today.
Daniel Schwartz is a professor in the Stanford Graduate School of Education and the director of the AAALAB.
© Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305.
