Creativity: Walking stimulates flashes of inspiration

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MunichPonding for hours behind your desk is not the best way to come up with brilliant ideas. Research shows that those who think while walking can significantly increase their creative output.

Walking, sitting or in a wheelchair

Many people have already seen for themselves that a walk tickles the best ideas out of their brains. A team led by Marily Oppezzo from the Stanford Graduate School of Education has scientifically substantiated this everyday observation. To do this, they had 176 students run through different test arrangements. They strolled through the great outdoors, walked at a normal pace on a treadmill or simply stayed seated - either in a neutral room or in a wheelchair that was pushed through the green outside. The scientists wanted to test what influence the movement, but also the stimulation from the impressions outside, had on the thought process.

Creative challenge

At the same time or directly after the walking or sitting program, the participants were given creative tasks. For example, you should come up with as many new functions as possible for various objects within a short period of time. A cork could not only serve as a bottle stopper, but also as a door stop, pin cushion or stamp. The individual rounds lasted around five to 15 minutes - depending on the tasks that the researchers set their test subjects. On the one hand, the degree of creativity was then assessed - if, for example, no other participant had come up with a specific idea for an object. The evaluation also included how practicable the suggestions were.

Getting ideas moving

The result: Walking promoted the creativity of the test subjects considerably. On average, they came up with 60 percent more application suggestions for a presented object. And the ideas also performed significantly better on the originality scale. In other creative challenges, performance even doubled. Conclusion: Walking literally gets your ingenuity going.

The energy boost for creativity worked best when walking outside. "But walking on a treadmill in a small, boring room also had a significant effect - that surprised us," says Oppezzo.

Whether the test subjects were outside or inside only played a subordinate role. "We're not saying that walking can turn anyone into a Michelangelo," says Oppezzo. "But it can help to get the creative process going."

Logic works better when you are seated

The researchers also examined the influence of walking on logical thinking. The participants were given groups of words that could all be combined with the same word - for example “Swiss”, “Huts” or “Cake”. In that case the answer is “cheese”. Walking around does not have a stimulating effect on such brain performance - on the contrary: those who strolled did a little worse in such tests than when they were sitting.

“Not every task can be solved better by walking. But those who aim for a fresh perspective or new ideas can benefit from it, ”says Oppezzo.

The late Apple guru Steve Jobs, but also Facebook founder Marc Zuckerberg, may have made use of this: Both of them are known to enjoy their business meetings while strolling. (cf)

Source: Marily Oppezzo, Daniel L. Schwartz: Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, Online First Publication, April 21, 2014. http: // dx.d

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