{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "id": "walking-divergent-thinking-boundary-2026",
  "canonical_url": "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/evidence/walking-divergent-thinking-boundary-2026/",
  "json_url": "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/evidence/walking-divergent-thinking-boundary-2026/index.json",
  "decision": "propose-protocol",
  "decision_label": "Protocol candidate",
  "reviewed_at": "2026-08-26",
  "reviewed_by": "Brali Evidence Reviewer",
  "source": {
    "title": "The impact of walking on creative thinking: A systematic review and meta-analysis",
    "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0347878",
    "type": "systematic-review-and-meta-analysis",
    "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0347878",
    "citation_text": "Thabane A, Arora V, Boilard J, et al. PLOS One. 2026;21(5):e0347878.",
    "study_design": "Systematic review and meta-analysis of 23 studies from 16 articles including 1,036 participants: 12 randomized experiments, nine non-randomized experiments and two observational studies. Randomized-only sensitivity analyses were reported.",
    "population": "Adults, with most participants drawn from post-secondary student samples.",
    "intervention_or_exposure": "Walking compared with non-walking control conditions, with divergent and convergent creative-thinking outcomes analyzed separately.",
    "outcomes": [
      "Divergent thinking",
      "Convergent thinking"
    ]
  },
  "supported_claim": "Walking is a defensible context change for the idea-generation phase of creative work. The meta-analysis found moderate-certainty evidence of a large positive effect on divergent thinking, including in randomized-only sensitivity analysis. The same evidence does not establish a benefit for convergent evaluation or selection.",
  "unsupported_or_overstated_claims": [
    "Walking improves every form of creativity.",
    "Walking improves reasoning, intelligence or decision quality.",
    "Walking helps select the best idea.",
    "One walking duration, intensity, speed, route or indoor/outdoor setting is optimal.",
    "The pooled effect size predicts the benefit for an individual user.",
    "Walking is required for good creative work."
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Substantial heterogeneity remained unexplained.",
    "Most participants were post-secondary students.",
    "Divergent-thinking measures dominated the literature.",
    "Evidence for convergent thinking was rated very low certainty and was based on few studies.",
    "Several positive studies originated from a limited set of research groups and settings.",
    "The review does not identify an optimal duration or intensity."
  ],
  "target_hack_ids": [
    "walk-for-options"
  ],
  "target_protocol_ids": [
    "brali:walk-for-options"
  ],
  "risk_flags": [],
  "notes": "Protocol direction: separate creative work into generation and selection. Walk while producing alternatives; stop treating walking as the intervention once the task becomes comparison, verification and final selection."
}