According to a team of Dutch scientists, walking backward helps people think more clearly.

    The study, published in the Washington-based journal Psychological Science, tested the ability of 38 men and women to quickly name the colors in which different words were displayed.

    During the tests, participants were told to step four paces to the left, right, backward or forward. In a subset of the trickier trials (ones where the words didn't relate in any way to the colors they were displayed in) performance was quickest when the subjects stepped four paces backward.

    "Backward locomotion appears to be a very powerful trigger to mobilize cognitive resources," conclude the authors, of Radboud University Nijmegen. "Thus, whenever you encounter a difficult situation, stepping backward may boost your capability to deal with it effectively."

    In case you were wondering why the researchers conducted such a seemingly nutty experiment to begin with: It's part of a larger field of study of the way body movements alter people's thinking/emotions.

    Flexing or extending the arms, for example (the motions involved in either pulling or pushing) can make someone more apt to like or dislike something, respectively, researchers have reported.

    Pushing and backing away are both avoidance actions - such actions are "usually performed in the context of aversive or problematic conditions that require enhanced control in order to focus on relevant information and to ward off negative consequences," the authors say.

    一組荷蘭科學(xué)家的研究表明，向后走路有助于人們更清醒的思考。

    這項研究發(fā)表在心理科學(xué) (Psychological Science)上。研究者給38名男性和女性受試呈現(xiàn)不同的單詞，并讓他們快速說出單詞的顏色。

    在測試過程中，受試者還被要求向前、或向后、或向左、或向右走4步。 一部分測試中給受試呈現(xiàn)的單詞與顏色是無關(guān)的，在這樣的測試中，如果被試向后走四步時反應(yīng)最快。

    “向后運動似乎可以非常有效的觸發(fā)認(rèn)知資源的分配，”來自Radboud University Nijmegen的作者總結(jié)道。“因此，當(dāng)你遇到困難時，倒著走可以有效的提升你解決問題的能力。”

    也許你想知道研究者為什么會進(jìn)行如此瘋狂的實驗：它其實是一個更大的研究人身體運動對思維和情緒影響的研究項目的一小部分。

    比如，研究者已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)，彎曲或伸展手臂（涉及推或拉的運動）會分別使人更傾向于喜歡或不喜歡的某一個東西。

    推動和后退都是回避行為——這種行為“通常是在厭惡或出現(xiàn)問題時完成，這時需要加強控制，以便把注意集中在相關(guān)信息上并可以抵御消極后果，”作者說。