How to make good conversations a walk in the park

Conversations are more responsive in natural environments such as parks and gardens than indoors, finds new research by the University of Manchester and Cardiff University. The researchers recorded conversations between threeand four-year-old children and their parents while they explored a city park and the park's indoor education centre and found that the conversations in the park were more responsive and connected compared to those recorded indoors. Dr Thea Cameron-Faulkner, Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Manchester, and one of the study authors, said: "Our research demonstrates that natural environments can significantly enhance social interactions, in this case improving the quality of parent-child conversations." Professor Merideth Gattis, from Cardiff University's School of Psychology, one of the study authors, added: "One of the most challenging aspects of conversations is listening and responding to what other people say. The results of our study suggest that one simple way for people to improve this process is to spend time outdoors in natural environments. "Our findings are an important first step toward building a better understanding of how natural environments can influence communication and could be used to inform and improve a number of services including education, child welfare and urban design." The team focused on families with threeand four-year-olds because at these ages most children have a lot to say, but coordinating with a conversational partner is sometimes challenging.