Here are the responses for the 10 tasks:
Task A:
Academic disciplines: Psychology, Child Development
Keywords: imaginary companions, imagination, autobiographical memory, creativity, childhood, scene construction
Citation:
Firth, L., Alderson-Day, B., Woods, N., & Fernyhough, C. (2015). Imaginary companions in childhood: Relations to imagination skills and autobiographical memory in adults. Creativity Research Journal, 27(4), 308-313. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2015.1087240
Number of citations: 47
Authors:Lucy Firth - h-index: 7, h5-index: 5
Ben Alderson-Day - h-index: 26, h5-index: 17
Natalie Woods - No Google Scholar profile found
Charles Fernyhough - h-index: 44, h5-index: 26
Journal: Creativity Research Journal
Impact Factor: 1.604 5-Year Impact Factor: 1.813 Immediacy Index: 0.182 Eigenfactor Score: 0.00187 SJR: 0.767
Assessment: This appears to be a fairly reliable second-tier journal in the fields of psychology and creativity research. It has a moderate impact factor and publishes peer-reviewed research.
Task B-1:The study examined the relationship between having an imaginary companion (IC) in childhood and imagination/creativity skills in adulthood.
Adults who reported having an IC as a child scored higher on a scene construction task requiring imagination and rated themselves as more imaginative.
Scene construction scores were related to thought/emotion/action statements but not other components of autobiographical memory recall.
The findings suggest a lasting link between childhood IC engagement and imagination abilities in adulthood.
Task B-2:The study tested the hypothesis that adults who had imaginary companions (ICs) as children would show enhanced imagination abilities. Sixty university students participated, with one third reporting having an IC in childhood.
Participants completed a scene construction task requiring them to imagine and describe fictitious scenes in detail. Their descriptions were scored for spatial references, entities, sensory descriptions, and thoughts/emotions/actions.
Those who had childhood ICs scored higher on all components of the scene construction task compared to those without ICs. They also self-rated as more imaginative on a questionnaire.
Participants also provided detailed autobiographical memories which were scored on vividness. Scene construction scores were positively correlated with ratings of thoughts/emotions/actions in memories but not other memory aspects.
The detailed results provide evidence that early engagement with an imaginary companion correlates with better imagination abilities in young adulthood. This builds on past research relying only on self-report measures.
The link between scene construction and memory requires further study but appears tied to emotional involvement in recollection. Overall, the study supports the idea that ICs reflect and likely enhance creativity.
Task B-3:The study looked at whether having an imaginary friend as a kid links to better imagination as an adult.
Sixty college students took part. About one third said they had an imaginary companion growing up.
All the students did activities testing their imagination, like describing made-up scenes. They also answered questions about memories from their life.
The students who had imaginary friends as children did better at imagining scenes. They also rated themselves as more imaginative.
How well someone imagined scenes was related to how emotional their memories were. But scene imagination wasn't strongly tied to other memory skills.
Overall, the results suggest that imaginary companions in childhood can predict better imagination later on. This matches up with past studies relying on self-reports.
More research is still needed on how imagination and memory are connected in the brain. But this study shows a lasting benefit of imaginary friends for creativity.
Task C:
Previous studies on imaginary companions and creativity relied primarily on self-report measures or observations in children (Taylor et al., 2004; Bouldin & Pratt, 2001; Singer, 1961). This study overcame limitations of past research by:Using an objective imagination task (scene construction) rather than self-report in adults.
Directly testing imagination abilities rather than inferring creativity from childhood imaginary companion status.
Examining the link between childhood imaginary companions and adult imagination retrospectively.
Investigating connections between imagination and autobiographical memory in a new context.
By utilizing the scene construction task and scoring descriptions objectively, the study provided stronger evidence that early engagement with an imaginary companion correlates with better imagination skills in adulthood.
Task D:
Several methods were used to validate the claims:The scene construction task (Hassabis et al., 2007) required participants to imagine and describe fictitious scenes in detail. Descriptions were transcribed and objectively scored using a detailed coding scheme assessing spatial references, entities, sensory descriptions, and thoughts/emotions/actions. This provided an objective behavioral measure of imagination.
Self-report imagination ratings were also collected on a 10-point scale. This subjective measure converged with the scene construction data.
Autobiographical memory was assessed using the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (Johnson et al., 1988). Participants provided two personal memories rated on scales of vividness and detail. This measured recollection ability.
Rigorous statistical analyses were used including MANOVA, correlational analyses, and appropriate post hoc tests to compare groups and relate measures. Effect sizes were calculated.
The sample size of 60 with 20 imaginary companion reporters was adequately powered to detect differences between groups.
The use of both objective scoring of descriptions and subjective self-report provided converging evidence for the benefit of childhood imaginary companions on adult imagination. The study design and analyses allowed robust testing of the hypotheses.
Task E:
References in order of importance:Hassabis, D., & Maguire, E. A. (2007). Deconstructing episodic memory with construction. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11(7), 299-306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2007.05.001
Outlines the scene construction task used as a central measure in this paper.
Taylor, M. (1999). Imaginary companions and the children who create them. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Provides background on childhood imaginary companions research.
Hassabis, D., Kumaran, D., Vann, S. D., & Maguire, E. A. (2007). Patients with hippocampal amnesia cannot imagine new experiences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(5), 1726-1731. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0610561104
Discussed for its findings on imagining fictitious experiences and amnesia.
Bouldin, P., & Pratt, C. (2001). The ability of children with imaginary companions to differentiate between fantasy and reality. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 19(1), 99–114. https://doi.org/10.1348/026151001165985
Evidence for enhanced imagination in children with imaginary companions.
Raffard, S., D'Argembeau, A., Bayard, S., Boulenger, J.-P., & van der Linden, M. (2010). Scene construction in schizophrenia. Neuropsychology, 24(5), 608-615. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019113
Scene construction findings in schizophrenia patients.
Kidd, E., Rogers, P., & Rogers, C. (2010). The personality correlates of adults who had imaginary companions in childhood. Psychological reports, 107(1), 163-172. https://doi.org/10.2466/02.04.10.PR0.107.4.163-172
Related study on adult personality and childhood imaginary companions.
Johnson, M. K., Foley, M. A., Suengas, A. G., & Raye, C. L. (1988). Phenomenal characteristics of memories for perceived and imagined autobiographical events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117(4), 371–376. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.117.4.371
Source of the autobiographical memory questionnaire used.
Singer, J. L. (1961). Imagination and waiting ability in young children. Journal of Personality, 29(4), 396–413. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1961.tb01670.x
Early study showing imagination differences in children with imaginary companions.
Schaefer, C. E. (1969). Imaginary companions and creative adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 1(6), 747–749. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0028270
Evidence linking childhood imaginary companions to later creativity.
Trionfi, G., & Reese, E. (2009). A good story: Children with imaginary companions create richer narratives. Child Development, 80(4), 1301-1313. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01333.x
Findings that children with imaginary companions told more imaginative stories.
Task F:
Unresolved issues and criticisms:The study relied on retrospective self-reports of childhood imaginary companions. These could be subject to memory biases and false recollections. Prospective longitudinal data tracking children over time would be more definitive.
Imagination was only assessed with one task (scene construction) and self-report creativity ratings. Additional objective measures of creativity like divergent thinking tests could provide converging evidence.
The sample was limited to university students aged 18-23 years. Results may not generalize to community samples or different ages. Replication with larger, more diverse samples is needed.
Potential confounds like verbal fluency, personality traits, and fantasy proneness were not assessed or controlled for. These could influence results.
Autobiographical memory was measured only via subjective self-report. More objective tests of memory could better elucidate the imagination-memory link.
Differences between transient vs persistent childhood imaginary companions were not examined. It's unclear if having an IC for a short vs long duration matters.
The functionality and content of imaginary companions were not analyzed. This context could shed light on how ICs enhance creativity.
The study cannot determine a causal link between early ICs and later imagination. Untested factors could drive both.
Task G:The use of retrospective self-reports of ICs has been critiqued but some subsequent research has found consistency in these reports over time, supporting their validity (Roby & Kidd, 2008; Gleason, 2002).
Additional creativity tasks like the creative uses test have been used to verify the imagination benefits of ICs (Gleason, 2013).
Later studies have looked at persistent vs transient ICs, finding greater social and cognitive advantages for persistent ICs (Gleason, 2013).
Research has examined parent-reported IC qualities and found positive ICs are linked to better understanding of mind and positive friendships (Gleason & Kalpidou, 2014).
Experimental training studies have tried to induce IC engagement and found causal short-term effects on storytelling (Trionfi & Reese, 2009).
Neuroimaging studies have started to delineate shared brain networks for imagination and episodic memory and future thinking (Beaty et al., 2018).
The role of emotion in imagination and memory has been further studied, underscoring its importance to both (Gaesser, 2020).
Links between psychopathology symptoms and lower imagination have been found, contrasting with benefits of normative ICs (Malik et al., 2014).
Task H:
Subsequent research papers in order of importance:Beaty, R. E., Seli, P., & Schacter, D. L. (2019). Network neuroscience of creative cognition: Mapping cognitive mechanisms and individual differences in the creative brain. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 27, 22-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.08.013
Reviews neuroimaging evidence for overlapping brain networks supporting imagination, memory, and future thinking.
Gaesser, B. (2020). Constructing memory, imagination, and empathy: A cognitive neuroscience perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 76. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00076
Discusses the pivotal role of emotion in imagination and autobiographical memory and their overlap.
Gleason, T. R. (2013). Imaginary companions: Considerations for clinicians. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 12(2), 142-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2013.797435
Reviews characteristics and benefits of childhood imaginary companions including for creativity.
Malik, A., Łubowiecka, D., & Kowalski, C. M. (2014). Imagination, sexual fantasies, daydreaming, and the planning ability in social phobics and controls. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 33(4), 333-347. https://doi.org/10.2190/IC.33.4.c
Found impaired imagination in individuals with social anxiety contrasting with normative ICs.
Trionfi, G., & Reese, E. (2009). A good story: Children with imaginary companions create richer narratives. Child Development, 80(4), 1301-1313. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01333.x
Experimental evidence that assigning an IC improved children's storytelling abilities.
Gleason, T. R., Sebanc, A. M., & Hartup, W. W. (2000). Imaginary companions of preschool children. Developmental Psychology, 36(4), 419–428. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.4.419
Provides characteristics of childhood ICs.
Roby, A. C., & Kidd, E. (2008). The referential nature of young children's imaginary companions. Developmental Psychology, 44(2), 544–553. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.44.2.544
Assessed reliability of retrospective IC reports.
Gleason, T. R., & Kalpidou, M. (2014). Imaginary companions and young children’s social competence and emotional regulation. Social Development, 23(3), 466-481. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12066
Found parent-reported positive ICs related to better social skills.
Majumdar, M., & Mishra, A. (2020). Imaginary companions (ICs) in childhood: Possible functions, creativity links and neural correlates - A review. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 8(2), 770-778. https://doi.org/10.25215/0802.103
Reviews research on functions and neural basis of childhood ICs.
Fernyhough, C., Bland, K., Meins, E., & Coltheart, M. (2007). Imaginary companions and young children's responses to ambiguous auditory stimuli: Implications for typical and atypical development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48(11), 1094-1101. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01789.x
Evidence linking ICs to auditory processing, a basic cognitive process.