Imaginary Companions: Contributions to Child Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/0102.3772e3432Keywords:
Imaginary companion, Pretend play, ChildrenAbstract
The creation of imaginary companions is a frequent manifestation of pretend play in childhood, which has been little explored in psychological literature. The goal of the present research was to investigate the relation between this phenomenon and language and social cognitive development. Forty children between 6 and 7 years of age (18 with imaginary companions and 22 without) were assessed by theory-of-mind, emotion understanding and vocabulary measures, as well as by interviews exploring engagement in fantasy. An interview on children’s fantasy experiences was conducted with 11 parents/caretakers. Results suggest that the phenomenon is associated with a more developed receptive vocabulary and is not indicative of deficits in social cognitive development.
Downloads
References
Astington, J. W., & Hughes, C. (2013). Theory of mind: Self-reflection and social understanding. In Zelazo, P. D (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of developmental psychology (398-424). New York: Oxford University Press.
Astington, J. W, & Jenkins, J. M. (1995). Theory of mind development and social understanding. Cognition and Emotion, 9(2-3), 151-165. doi: 10.1080/02699939508409006
Astington, J., Pelletier, J., & Homer, B. (2002). Theory of mind and epistemological development: The relation between children’s second order understanding and their ability to reason about evidence. New Ideas in Psychology, 20, 131-144.
Bittencourt, C. M., & Blanco, D. C. (1996). O amigo imaginário na percepção das mães. Psico, 27(2), 139-151.
Bouldin, P. (2006). An investigation of the fantasy predisposition and fantasy style of children with imaginary companions. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 167(1), 17-29. doi: 10.3200/GNTP.167.1.17-29
Bouldin, P., Bavin, E. L., & Pratt, C. (2002). An investigation of the verbal abilities of children with imaginary companions. First Language, 22, 249-264. doi: 10.1177/014272370202206602
Bouldin, P., & Pratt, C. (2001). The ability of children with imaginary companions to differentiate between fantasy and reality. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 19, 99-114.
Capovilla, F. C., & Capovilla, A. G. S. (1997). Desenvolvimento linguístico na criança dos dois aos seis anos: Tradução e estandardização do Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test de Dunn & Dunn, e da Language Development Survey de Rescorla. Ciência Cognitiva: Teoria, Pesquisa e Aplicação, 1, 353-380.
Carpendale, J., & Lewis, C. (2006). How children develop social understanding. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Davis, P., Paige, E., Meins, E., & Fernyhough, C. (2011). Self-knowledge in childhood: Relations with children’s imaginary companions and understanding of mind. British Journal of Developmental, 29(3), 680-686. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-835X.2011.02038.x
Fernyhough, C., Bland, K., Meins, E., & Coltheart, M. (2007). Imaginary companions and young children’s responses to ambiguous auditory stimuli: Implications for atypical development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48(11), 1094-1101. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01789.x
Gleason, T. R. (2002). Social provisions of real and imaginary relationships in early childhood. Developmental Psychology, 38(6), 979-992. doi: 10.1037/0012- 1649.38.6.979
Gleason, T. R (2004). Imaginary companions: An evaluation of parents as reporters. Infant and Child Development, 13, 199-215. doi: 10.1002/icd.349
Gleason, T. R., Jarudi, R. N., & Cheek, J. M. (2003). Imagination, personality, and imaginary companions. Social Behavior and Personality, 31(7), 721-738. doi: 10.2224/sbp.2003.31.7.721
Harris, P. L. (2000). The work of the imagination. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers .
Harris, P. L. (2006). Social cognition. In Damon, W, Lerner, R, Kuhn, D & Siegler, R (Eds), Handbook of child psychology (6ª ed., Vol. 2, pp. 818-858). New York: John Wiley. doi: 10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0219
Hoff, E. V. (2005a). A friend living inside me - The forms and functions of imaginary companions. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 24, 151-189. doi: 10.2190/4M9J-76M2-4Q4Q-8KYT
Hoff, E. V. (2005b). Imaginary companions, creativity, and self-image in middle childhood. Creativity Research Journal, 17(2-3), 167-180. doi: 10.1080/10400419.2005.9651477
Jenkins, J. M., & Astington, J. W. (2000). Theory of mind and social behavior: Causal models tested in a longitudinal study. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 46, 203-220
Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data.Biometrics,33, 159-174.
Manosevitz, M., Prentice, N., & Wilson, F. (1973). Individual and family correlates of imaginary companions in preschool children. Developmental Psychology, 8, 72-79. doi: 10.1080/01650250344000415
Mathur, R, & Smith, M. C. (2008). An investigation of imaginary companions in an ethic and grade diverse sample. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 27(4), 313-336. doi: 10.2190/IC.27.4.c
Minervino, C. A. S. M., Roazzi, A., Dias, M. G. B. B., & Roazzi, M. (2010). In M. C. R. A Joly & C. T. Reppold (2010). Testes informatizados para a avaliação psicológica e educacional. E-book. São Paulo: Casa do Psicólogo. [ Links ]
Pavarini, G., & Souza, D. H. (2010) Teoria da mente, empatia e motivação pró-social em crianças pré-escolares. Psico logia em Estudo, 15(3), 613-622.
Pons, F., & Harris, P. L. (2000). TEC (Test of Emotion Comprehension). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Preissler, M. A. (2006). Play and autism: Facilitating symbolic understanding. In Singer, D. G., Golinkoff, R. M. & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (Eds.), Play = learning: How play motivates and enhances children’s cognitive and socio-emotional growth (pp. 231-250). New York: Oxford University Press . doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304381.003.0012
Roby, A. C., & Kidd, E. (2008). The referential communication skills of children with imaginary companions. Developmental Science, 11(4), 531-540. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00699.x
Singer, J. L. (1961). Imagination and waiting ability in young children. Journal of Personality, 29(4), 396-413. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1961.tb01670.
Seiffge-Krenke, I. (1997). Imaginary companions in adolescence: Sign of a deficient or positive development? Journal of Adolescence, 20, 137-154. doi: 10.1080/01650250344000415
Smith, P. K. (2002). Pretend play, metarepresentation and theory of mind. In Mitchell, R. W. (Ed), Pretending and imagination in animals and children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511542282.011
Sperb, T. M., & Carraro, L. (2008). A relação entre o faz-de-conta e a teoria da mente: Controvérsias teóricas e empíricas. In Sperb, T. M. & Maluf, M. R.(Eds.), Desenvolvimento sociocognitivo: Estudos brasileiros sobre “teoria da mente”. (pp. 163-190). São Paulo, SP: Vetor.
Tavares, L. C., & Pinheiro, M. L. (1989). O amigo imaginário. Psico, 17(1), 150-163.
Taylor, M. (1999). Imaginary companions and the children who create them. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Taylor, M., & Carlson, S. M. (1997). The relation between individual differences in fantasy and theory of mind. Child Development, 68(3), 436-455. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1997.tb01950.x
Taylor, M., & Carlson, S. M. (2000). The influence of religious beliefs on parental attitudes about children’s fantasy behavior. In Rosengreen, K. S., Johnson, C. N. & Harris, P. L. (Eds.), Imagining the impossible: Magical, scientific, and religious thinking in children (pp. 227-245). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511571381.010
Taylor, M., Carlson, S. M., Maring, B., Gerow, L., & Charley, C. M. (2004). The characteristics and correlates of fantasy in school-age children: Imaginary companions, impersonation, and social understanding. Developmental Psychology, 40, 1173-1187. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.40.6.1173
Taylor, M., Carlson, S. M., & Shawber, A. B. (2008). Autonomy and control in children’s interactions with imaginary companions. In Roth, I. (Ed.),Imaginative minds (pp. 80-100). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
Taylor, M., Cartwright, B. S., & Carlson, S. M. (1993). A developmental investigation of children’s imaginary companions. Developmental Psychology, 29, 276-285. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.29.2.276
Taylor, M., Hulette, A. C., & Dishion, T. J. (2010). Longitudinal outcomes of young high-risk adolescents with imaginary companions.Developmental Psychology, 46, 1632-1636. doi: 10.1037/a0019815
Taylor, M., & Mannering, A. M. (2007). Of Hobbes and Harvey: The imaginary companions of children and adults. In Goncu, A. & Gaskins, S. (Eds.), Play and development: Evolutionary, sociocultural and functional perspectives (pp. 227-245). Mawah, NJ: Erlbaum Press.
Taylor, M., & Mottweiler, C. M. (2008). Imaginary companions: Pretending they are real but knowing they are not. American Journal of Play, 1, 47-54.
Taylor, M., Shawber, A. B., & Mannering, A. M. (2009). Children’s imaginary companions: What is it like to have an invisible friend? In Markman, K. D., Klein, W. M. P. & Suhr, J. A. (Eds.), Handbook of imagination and mental simulation (pp. 211-224). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Trionfi, G., & Reese, E. (2009). A good story: Children with imaginary companions create richer narratives. Child Development, 80(4), 1301-1313. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01333.x
Velludo, N. B., & Souza, D. H. (2015). A criação de amigos imaginários: Uma revisão de literatura. Psico, 46(1), 25-37. doi: 10.15448/1980-8623.2015.1.16406
Wellman, H. M., & Liu, D. (2004). Scaling of theory-of-mind tests. Child Development, 75(2), 523-541. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00691.x
Youngblade, L. M., & Dunn, J. (1995). Individual differences in young children's pretend play with mother and sibling: Links to relationships and understanding of other people's feelings and beliefs. Child Development, 66, 1472-1492. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1995.tb00946.x
