In the forest, problems can be solved more easily

How nature should inspire creative thinking

14/12/2012

Those who are in nature can solve their problems better. That's what US researchers claim their study now in the science magazine „However, critics complain about the questionable measurement methods that Ruth Atchley of the University of Kansas and her team used in their investigation, which found that cognitive performance changed after only four days in nature 50 percent improved.

Hiking in nature improves cognitive ability
Today, most people spend most of their time in front of the computer. Social contacts are maintained on Facebook and the latest news is sent via SMS directly to the smartphone. Already ten-year-olds are well versed in the multimedia world and can be reached around the clock. The price that society pays is high: Presumably, people were never as stressful as they are today.

Ruth Atchley and her team present a solution: Get out into nature! According to her study, a four-day stay in nature should inspire creative thinking. The scientists let backpackers who spent four to six days in the forest solve various tasks. It turned out that the hikers performed much better in creative problem-solving than the control group, which solved the tasks before they hiked and on average answered only four out of ten questions correctly. On the fourth day of their tour, the hikers were able to solve an average of six out of ten tasks. „This shows that there are real, measurable cognitive benefits when we spend time in nature, "the researchers write.

Scientific method questionable
The investigation involved 15 women and 17 men, who solved tasks during their migration, as well as others who were to complete the tasks before they left. Critics complain that the number of study participants is far too small to be able to meet relevant expenditure. Apart from that, the researchers' approach is not very scientific. Here the mean values ​​of the services of two different groups were compared. No group was tested before and during their hiking tour, so that statements about an improvement are not possible. In order to obtain representative results, both groups would have had to be tested in advance. Then one group would have wandered in nature while the other would have worked in the office, for example. In this way it would have been measurable whether the walkers are really more creative than the office group.

As the scientists report, I already have „a four-day stay in nature and the associated distance of multimedia technology, shown an increase in creativity in solving problems by 50 percent in the group of hikers“. However, since two different groups have been compared, this inference is questionable. In addition, the researchers could not exclude some factors that could affect performance. „A limitation of current research is that it is not possible to determine with certainty whether some of the effects are due to the influence of nature, the lack of influence of technology or other factors related to a three-day stay in nature“, explain the researchers.

Nonetheless, hiking in nature has many positive effects. This is confirmed by other studies.

Hiking in nature promotes good health
Hiking has been considered a healthy form of movement for years, and it can be exercised even if the constitution does not allow other more stressful sports. The German Hiking Association (DWV) has certified the concept of health hiking. Professor Kuno Hottenrott from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and his team examined the effectiveness of hiking in a scientific study. Thus, health walks have a positive impact on the whole organism. Anyone who walks regularly, reduces their body weight, the body mass index (BMI), lowers blood pressure and body fat, writes the German Hiking Association on the results of the study in a statement. Endurance performance and coordination skills would also be improved, the association said.

During the health walk, the participants will be guided by a certified guide who not only gives them general health tips for prevention during the tour, but also performs various physiotherapeutic exercises with the hikers. For the approximately 90-minute hikes for corresponding movement exercises are interrupted twice. In this way, the positive effects of a migration add up: According to the study, fresh air and physical activity in nature lead to an improvement in health. Whether or not health migration also has a positive effect on cognitive abilities has not been studied in the study. (Fp)