Taking a walk may lead to more creative thinking than sitting, according to research at stanford university. in one of several [studies], 48 college students sat alone in a small room at a desk facing a blank wall. when a researcher named an object, the student was asked to name alternative ways to use the object. for example, for the word "button," a person might say "as a doorknob on a dollhouse. the students heard several sets of words and were asked to name as many responses as possible. the participants then repeated the task with different words while walking on a treadmill facing a blank wall in the same room. they found that the students gave more creative responses when walking than when sitting.