We’ve modified our behavior so we can text and walk

           We’ve modified our behavior so we can text and walk

Texting – or checking social media or reading/responding to mail or reading the news or checking the weather or watching a video – while walking is a pretty common phenomenon. It’s so common that most people who own a mobile device have become texting walkers.

Research suggests that these texters adopt protective measures to minimize the risk of accidents when walking. They’re less likely to trip because they shorten their step length, reduce step frequency, lengthen the time during which both feet are in contact with the ground, and increase obstacle clearance height. Taken together this creates an exaggerated image of walking, but it apparently slows the walker enough so that he registers some of what is happening around him and can compensate for it.

(Adaptado de http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/we-ve-modified-our-behavior-so-we-can-text-and-walk/.)