The Experimental Effects of Acute Walking on Cognitive Creativity Performance

To examine the experimental effects of acute moderate-intensity walking exercise on cognitive creativity. Twenty young adults (Mage = 21.3 yrs) completed a within-subject experimental protocol involving three trials on a single laboratory visit. Trials 1 and 2 were control trials involving creativity task performance. Following Trial 2, participants completed a 15-minute acute bout of treadmill walking exercise. After this, participants completed the Trial 3 creativity assessment. For all trials, both convergent (Remote Associates Task) and divergent (Alternative Uses Task) creativity was assessed. There was no statistically significant experimental effect of acute exercise on convergent creativity performance (F=0.48; P=.62; η2=.05). Results were similar for divergent creativity. Our findings do not provide evidence that acute walking enhances cognitive creativity.