Imaginary Play Companions: Contributions of Creative and Intellectual Abilities of Young Children*

Somers, Jana U.; Yawkey, Thomas D.

doi:10.1002/j.2162-6057.1984.tb00370.x

Cited by 24 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Thus, the greater use of temporal and causal clauses by children with ICs may be indicative of not just an increased conceptual knowledge, but also the associated maturation of social-cognitive skills acquired by IC children through practice with their imaginary companion (Somers & Yawkey 1984).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An investigation of the verbal abilities of children with imaginary companions

2002

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IThe purpose of this study was to investigate the language use of 40 children with imaginary companions (IC) and 40 children without imaginary companions (NIC) across two age levels: a younger group aged 4;O-5;ll and an older group aged 6;O-7;11.The study investigated the language of these children by examining their use of adverbial and relative clauses, complement clauses, colordinating conjunctions and modal types. The findings indicated that, compared with NICs, ICs used a significantly greater number of adverbial clauses, relative clauses, and and, with their use of but approaching significance. Overall, the results were interpreted as indicating that ICs use more mature language, and this demonstrates enhanced social-cognitive skills. It was concluded that the presence of imaginary companions is positively associated with language use and discourse competency of children.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An investigation of the verbal abilities of children with imaginary companions

2002

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“…There are relatively few definitions concerning imaginary companions. Many of those that exist have been based upon Svendson (1934), who provided the foundation for work in this area (Manosevitz, Prentice & Wilson 1973; Somers & Yawkey 1984; Meyer & Tuber 1989). Svendsen defined an imaginary companion as:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It could be suggested that the common assumption of imaginary companions being mainly a preschool phenomenon may have encouraged studies to use very young children as participants. In their review of the literature, Somers and Yawkey (1984) concluded that the experience of imaginary companions peaked in children aged between 21/2 and 31/2 years, suggesting it is a preschool phenomenon. This common assumption has been supported by other studies such as that by Meyer and Tuber (1989) whose study used 4–5‐year‐olds and by Manosevitz et al (1973) who used preschoolers as participants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of imaginary companions in a normal child population

Pearson

Rouse

Doswell

et al. 2001

Child

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Approximately 1800 children between the ages of 5 and 12 years were randomly selected and asked whether they had present or past experiences of imaginary companions. It was found that 829 (46.2%) children reported experiences of imaginary companions. These findings were unexpected as previous studies had suggested that imaginary companions are generally experienced by fewer, much younger children. There were no significant differences in creativity scores between children who reported imaginary companions compared with those who did not. Imaginary companions were reported by more girls than boys, and were not restricted to very young children.

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“…The developmental course of this type of pretend play is not well understood, but imaginary companions are not solely a phenomenon of early childhood, as has often been supposed (e.g., Somers & Yawkey, 1984). For example, Pearson et al (2001) found that 28% of children age 5 to 12 years had imaginary companions.…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

Longitudinal outcomes of young high-risk adolescents with imaginary companions.

Taylor

Hulette

Dishion

2010

Developmental Psychology

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The creation and cultivation of an imaginary companion is considered to be a healthy form of pretend play in early childhood, but there tends to be a less positive view of older children who have them. To test the extent that having an imaginary companion in middle school is associated with positive or negative outcomes, an ethnically diverse sample of 152 middle school children at high risk for developing problem behaviors were interviewed about imaginary companions, coping styles, and problem behaviors. Although having a current imaginary companion (n =13) was associated with using more positive coping strategies, peer nomination data indicated that these children had low social preference with peers. In addition, our data indicated that these children were perceived by their parents as having more problem behaviors compared with young adolescents who never had imaginary companions (n = 108) or children who had imaginary companions in the past (n = 31). However, a longitudinal follow-up at the end of high school indicated that the children who had imaginary companions in middle school showed greater positive adjustment on a multiple-indicator adjustment construct.

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Imaginary Play Companions: Contributions of Creative and Intellectual Abilities of Young Children*

Cited by 24 publications

References 6 publications

An investigation of the verbal abilities of children with imaginary companions

An investigation of the verbal abilities of children with imaginary companions

Prevalence of imaginary companions in a normal child population

Longitudinal outcomes of young high-risk adolescents with imaginary companions.

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