Body Movements Can Influence Problem Solving, Researchers Report

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Body Movements Can Influence Problem Solving, Researchers Report

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090512121259.htm

Swinging their arms helped participants in a new study solve a problem whose

solution involved swinging strings, researchers report, demonstrating that the

brain can use bodily cues to help understand and solve complex problems.

The study is the first to show that a person's ability to solve a problem can be

influenced by how he or she moves.

" Our manipulation is changing the way people think, " said University of Illinois

psychology professor Lleras, who conducted the study with Vanderbilt

University postdoctoral researcher , his former graduate student.

" In other words, by directing the way people move their bodies, we are –

unbeknownst to them – directing the way they think about the problem. "

Even after successfully solving the problem, almost none of the study subjects

became consciously aware of any connection between the physical activity they

engaged in and the solution they found.

" The results are interesting both because body motion can affect higher order

thought, the complex thinking needed to solve complicated problems, and because

this effect occurs even when someone else is directing the movements of the

person trying to solve the problem, " Lleras said.

The new findings offer new insight into what researchers call " embodied

cognition, " which describes the link between body and mind, Lleras said.

" People tend to think that their mind lives in their brain, dealing in

conceptual abstractions, very much disconnected from the body, " he said. " This

emerging research is fascinating because it is demonstrating how your body is a

part of your mind in a powerful way. The way you think is affected by your body

and, in fact, we can use our bodies to help us think. "

In the study, the researchers asked study subjects to tie the ends of two

strings together. The strings dangled from ceiling rafters and were so far apart

that a person grasping one could not reach the other. A few tools were also

available: a paperback book, a wrench, two small dumbbells and a plate. Subjects

were given a total of eight, two-minute sessions to solve the problem, with 100

seconds devoted to finding a solution, interrupted by 20 seconds of exercise.

" Our cover story was that we were interested in the effects of exercise on

problem-solving, " Lleras said.

Some subjects were told to swing their arms forward and backward during the

exercise sessions, while others were directed to alternately stretch one arm,

and then the other, to the side. To prevent them from consciously connecting

these activities to the problem of the strings, the researchers had them count

backwards by threes while exercising. (To see videos of the problem-solving and

exercise sessions, click on the video links.)

The subjects in the arm-swinging group were more likely than those in the

stretch group to solve the problem, which required attaching an object to one of

the strings and swinging it so that it could be grasped while also holding the

other string. By the end of the 16-minute deadline, participants in the

arm-swinging group were 40 percent more likely than those in the stretch group

to solve the problem.

" By making you swing your arms in a particular way, we're activating a part of

your brain that deals with swinging motions, " Lleras said. " That sort of

activity in your brain then unconsciously leads you to think about that type of

motion when you're trying to solve the problem. "

Previous studies of embodied cognition have demonstrated that physical movements

can aid in learning and memory or can change a person's perceptions or attitudes

toward information, Lleras said.

Other studies by Lleras and his colleagues also have shown that directing a

person's eye movements or attention in specific patterns can also aid in solving

complex problems, but this is the first study to show that directed movements of

the body can, outside of conscious awareness, guide higher-order cognitive

processing, he said.

" We view this as a really important new window into understanding the complexity

of human thought, " he said. " I guess another take-home message is this: If you

are stuck trying to solve a problem, take a break. Go do something else. This

will ensure that the next time you think about that problem you will literally

approach it with a different mind. And that may help! "