Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T13:32:46.470Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The development of the imagination and imaginary worlds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2022

Sarah R. Beck Open the ORCID record for Sarah R. Beck [Opens in a new window]  and
Paul L. Harris
Sarah R. Beck
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UKs.r.beck@bham.ac.uk; https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/psychology/beck-sarah.aspx
Paul L. Harris
Affiliation:
Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; paul_harris@gse.harvard.edu; http://pharris.squarespace.com/
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Evidence from developmental psychology on children's imagination is currently too limited to support Dubourg and Baumard's proposal and, in several respects, it is inconsistent with their proposal. Although children have impressive imaginative powers, we highlight the complexity of the developmental trajectory as well as the close connections between children's imagination and reality.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e278
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barnes, J. L., Bernstein, E., & Bloom, P. (2015) Fact or fiction? Children's preferences for real versus make-believe stories. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 34, 243–258. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276236614568632.Google Scholar
Beck, S. R., Apperly, I. A., Chappell, J., Guthrie, C., & Cutting, N. (2011). Making tools isn't child's play. Cognition, 119, 301–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2011.01.003.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, S. R., & Riggs, K. J. (2014). Developing thoughts about what might have been. Child Development Perspectives, 8, 175–179. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12082.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubourg, E., Thouzeau, V., de Dampierre, C., & Baumard, N. (2021). Exploratory preferences explain the cultural success of imaginary worlds in modern societies. PsyArXiv, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/d9uqs.Google Scholar
Harris, P. L. (2021). Early constraints on the imagination: The realism of young children. Child Development, 92, 466–483. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13487.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, P. L., & Kavanaugh, R. D. (1993). Young children's understanding of pretense. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 58, i–107. https://doi.org/10.2307/1166074.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCormack, T., & Atance, C. M. (2011). Planning in young children: A review and synthesis. Developmental Review, 31, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2011.02.002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCormack, T., Feeney, A., & Beck, S. R. (2020). Regret and decision-making: A developmental perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29, 346–350. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721420917688.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Purhonen, S., Gronow, J., & Rahkonen, K. (2009). Social differentiation of musical and literary taste patterns in Finland. Research on Finnish Society, 2, 39–49. https://doi.org/10.51815/fjsr.110689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, M., Mottweiler, C. M., Aguiar, N. R., Naylor, E. R., & Levernier, J. G. (2020). Paracosms: The imaginary worlds of middle childhood. Child Development, 91(1), e164–e178. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed