Hikers More Inspired on Tests
after Four Days Unplugged
Backpackers scored 50 percent
better on a creativity test after spending four days in nature disconnected
from electronic devices, according to a study by psychologists from the University
of Utah and University of Kansas.
“This is a way of showing that interacting
with nature has real, measurable benefits to creative problem-solving that
really hadn’t been formally demonstrated before,” says David Strayer, a
co-author of the study and professor of psychology at the University of Utah. “It
provides a rationale for trying to understand what is a healthy way to interact
in the world, and that burying yourself in front of a computer 24/7 may have
costs that can be remediated by taking a hike in nature.”
The study by Strayer
and University of Kansas psychologists Ruth Ann Atchley and Paul Atchley was
scheduled for publication Dec. 12 in PLOS ONE, an online journal
published by the Public Library of Science. Don’t the results seem obvious? “Writers
for centuries have talked about why interacting with nature is important, and
lots of people go on vacations,” says Strayer. “But I don’t think we know very
well what the benefits are from a scientific perspective.” The study involved
56 people – 30 men and 26 women – with an average age of 28 ..............
NATURE & CREATIVITY
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