Evaluating the impact of a short bout of stair-climbing on creative thinking in a between-subjects pretest posttest comparison study

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 176 - 11
• Main Authors: Kawashima, Chihiro, Chen, Chong, Hagiwara, Kosuke, Mizumoto, Tomohiro, Watarai, Mino, Koga, Takaya, Higuchi, Fumihiro, Fujii, Yuko, Okabe, Emi, Nakagawa, Shin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 02.01.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/378/2649; 631/477/2811; 692/700/478; Climbing; Creativity; Elevators and Escalators; Exercise; Health Promotion - methods; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; multidisciplinary; Physical activity; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Stair Climbing
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50282-2

Recent studies have indicated potential links between short bouts of physical activity like stair-climbing and enhanced creative thinking. However, previous research featured limitations, such as using an uncommon 3 flights round-trip design and lacking baseline creative thinking evaluations. To rectify these limitations and build a more comprehensive understanding, the present study adopts a between-subjects pretest posttest comparison design to scrutinize the effects of ascending stair-climbing on both divergent and convergent thinking. 52 subjects underwent a pretest, followed by random assignment to one of four interventions: ascending stair-climbing for 2, 5, or 8 flights, or taking an elevator for 8 flights, before progressing to a posttest. The results revealed a notable improvement in convergent thinking, measured by the increased number of solved matchstick arithmetic problems (d = 1.165), for participants who climbed 2 flights of stairs compared to those who took the elevator. However, climbing 5 or 8 flights showed no such impact on convergent thinking, and stair-climbing, regardless of the number of flights, did not influence divergent thinking. These findings underscore the utility of brief stair-climbing as an accessible means to enhance convergent thinking in everyday settings, providing a nuanced insight into the relationship between physical activity and creative thinking processes.