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Walking Backward May Sharpen Thinking
Facing a challenge? Backing yourself out of it,
literally, may help
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News
The
next time you're facing a challenge, you might not
want to stand your ground. Maybe you should try
walking backward instead, Dutch researchers suggest.
"Whenever you encounter a difficult situation,
stepping backward may boost your capability to deal
with it effectively," Severine Koch, PhD, and
colleagues write in May's edition of Psychological
Science.
Koch's team works for the social and cultural
psychology department at Radboud University Nijmegen
in the Netherlands.
They
were interested in the effects that "approach"
movements, like walking toward something or pulling
something toward you, and "avoidance" movements,
such backing away from something, have on mental
functioning.
The
researchers reasoned that the body and mind are on
higher alert when they're in avoidance mode. So they
put that theory to the test by studying 38 students
at Radboud University Nijmegen.
Each
student took word tests in which they read a color
word -- like red -- that was sometimes displayed in
matching ink (like "red" written in red ink) and
sometimes shown in another color (like "red" written
in blue ink).
The
students had to name, as quickly as possible, the
color of the ink. And, they had to do that while
walking forward, backward, or stepping sideways.
When
the test was easy -- and the color names and inks
matched -- reaction times for correct answers were
just as good while the students walked forward,
backward, or sideways.
But
when the test was tough -- and the color names and
inks clashed -- reaction times for correct answers
were quickest while walking backward. Reaction times
while walking forward or stepping sideways were
similar.
Based on the reaction time advantage, Koch and
colleagues write that "backward locomotion appears
to be a very powerful trigger to mobilize cognitive
resource."
But
do look to see where you're going -- safety first.
©
WebMD. All rights reserved.
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"Whenever you encounter a
difficult situation, stepping backward may boost
your capability to deal with it effectively" |
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