Imaginary Companions of Blind, Deaf, and Typically Developing School Children

Smith, Maureen C.

doi:10.1177/0276236618761371

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…(2015) reported evidence that children’s imagination functions, in part, as a cognitive mechanism that allows children to generate new ideas without observing new data. Thus, children with strong fantasy orientations and/or children with imaginary companions, who typically have high levels of fantasy orientation (e.g., Bouldin, 2006; Mathur & Smith, 2008; Smith, 2018), may have advanced cognitive skills that facilitate their ability to engage in early forms of scientific inquiry; that is, inquisitiveness as was assessed in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imagination and Fantasy: Correlates of Preschoolers’ Science Relevant Inquisitiveness

Smith

Fusaro

2020

Imagination, Cognition and Personality

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One early manifestation of science inquiry skills may be inquisitiveness; that is, children’s tendency to ask questions about science relevant information. Little is known about individual differences in inquisitiveness, despite its fundamental role in emerging science inquiry skills. Prior research hints at potential predictors of inquisitiveness, including children’s imagination and curiosity through children’s exploration and play. Hence, this study examines potential correlates of inquisitiveness: children’s fantasy orientation and curiosity. Thirty-four ethnically diverse 4- to 5-year-old children (58.8% female) self-reported imaginary companion status, fantasy orientation, engagement in pretend role-play, and drew imaginative pictures. Children participated in two tasks, one that measures preference for uncertainty (curiosity) and one that measures inquisitiveness about science relevant content. MANOVA indicated differences in inquisitiveness by imaginary companion status and regression indicated that fantasy orientation made an independent contribution to inquisitiveness. Our results suggest that educators can enhance children’s science education in early childhood classrooms by providing opportunities for children to engage in imaginative play and experience stories and games with fantasy content.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imagination and Fantasy: Correlates of Preschoolers’ Science Relevant Inquisitiveness

Smith

Fusaro

2020

Imagination, Cognition and Personality

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“…Imaginative instruction is more than an approach or a technique, it's rather a performance shaper. It worked for deaf and blind learners (Smith, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Imagination worked very well with twelve blind and thirteen deaf culturally varied students. To this end, Smith (2018) investigated the effect of introducing an imaginary friend connected with each student as such groups of students have problems with making social and emotional relations with others and thereby mostly alone. The study reported that more than half of the participants (viz.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultivating Attainment through Imagination in Religious Education Classes

Al-Hawamleh

2019

IJLTER

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Previous studies (e.g. Whitton 2018;Damiani, & Paloma, 2017;Egan, 2005) on imagination asserted its role to facilitate the development of members' spirituality and thereby attainment. In the present study, the promotion of imagination is explored. Altogether, 58 fifteen year old male students were trained to think imaginatively through considering their psychological factors of: attention, abilities, outcomes, motivation, and ongoing assessment. Varied accounts of the class settings encompassed recorded videos of students' imaginative processes during class, teacher's debates, students' stimulated recall, observations and photos of the classroom. After the training, the study demonstrated a significant noteworthy improvement in favor of the imaginative approach.This research has offered evidence to describe imaginative practices as effective in developing students' attainment.

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“…Children’s fantasy orientation can predict their levels of affective empathy, potentially due to the fact that children with imaginary companions must hold dual/multiple emotional perspectives and discern between real and pretend emotion (Brown et al, 2017; Niec & Russ, 2002). Children with ICs may also rate themselves as more empathic (Smith, 2019). IC status seems to be associated with more complex, elaborated, and diverse language use as well, implying that ICs could enhance children’s ability to communicate with others (Bouldin et al, 2002; Lin, Zhou, & Wan, et al, 2020; Roby & Kidd, 2008; Singer & Singer, 1992).…”

Section: Theory Of Mindmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Imaginary Companions and Their Implications for Development

Armah

Landers-Potts

2021

Imagination, Cognition and Personality

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A curious childhood phenomenon that has received relatively little attention in developmental literature is the imaginary companion (IC). Increased recognition of the importance of imaginative play and a desire to stimulate children’s early cognitive development makes ICs a particularly relevant topic. The significant prevalence of ICs in the population has permitted a modest yet diverse range of research investigating the functions, correlates, and implications of ICs for the children that create them. This literature review summarizes some of this research in order to describe the functions and forms that ICs may take, as well as social and personality characteristics of children with ICs. It also examines the role that ICs may serve in cognitive and social development, particularly with respect to children’s acquisition of Theory of Mind. Finally, this article addresses ways to integrate ICs into other aspects of children’s lives, gaps in the existing literature, and potential directions for future research in the field.

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Imaginary Companions of Blind, Deaf, and Typically Developing School Children

Cited by 6 publications

References 60 publications

Imagination and Fantasy: Correlates of Preschoolers’ Science Relevant Inquisitiveness

Imagination and Fantasy: Correlates of Preschoolers’ Science Relevant Inquisitiveness

Cultivating Attainment through Imagination in Religious Education Classes

A Review of Imaginary Companions and Their Implications for Development

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