Imaginary companions Flashcards
what is play
Non-serious activities in which children structure
behaviour in idiosyncratic ways not necessarily related to
reality
what are types of play
Social contingency play (e.g., ‘peek-a-boo’).
• Object play (e.g., lego).
• Language play (e.g., babbling, rhymes).
• Physical play.
• Fantasy or Pretend play
what did children with an imaginary companion orginally get associated with?
personality defect, with type of IC indicative of
particular problem”
what are type of imaginary companions?
imaginary friend
personified object
what proportion of children during development will have an IC?
sometime during development, 65% of children will have an IC
IC are more common in
what about gender differences?
first born and only children.
• Generally between ages of 3 – 9-years.
Females:
Invisible Friend 27.6% 9.7%
Personified Object 12.4% 9.7%
Pretend identity 10.5% 26.2%
for children with no IC’s describe gender difference
girls: 49.5%
boys: 54.4%
chlidren with IC
Characteristics
IC children more likely to:
• be reported by parents to be _highly imaginative. _
• incorporate myth into their play.
• explain events as _magical. _
• Do not differ from non-IC children in number of real friends
(at least when < 10 years of age).
• Play episodes are reported mostly as _positive
experiences._
benefit of imaginary friends
- Understanding of others’ and own mind states.
- Language and communicative skills
- Creativity.
how can having an IC help with understanding their own state of mind?
Davis et al. (2011): engaging with a self-created IC
facilitates children understanding that their i_nternal world _
is private (i.e., not predictable from overt behaviour).
overall how can IC’s help with understanding other and their own mental states?
IC status is associated with better
understanding of others’ beliefs and perspectives, and
properties of children’s own mental life.
describe an example of how children with ICs can improve language
• Bouldin et al. (2002): children with ICs asked to tell a
story about a monster:
• IC children produced more:
• Relative clauses: The monster that eats dinosaurs
• Adverbial clauses: The monster ate the dinosaur while
standing on one leg.
• Add information about referents and actions – they
indicate that IC children make stories more
elaborate
how to children with IC’s perform in narratives?
produced better recounts and stories
- plot
- audience
- detail
Describe private speech in children with ICs
Vygotsky (1934): self-talk gradually internalised across
development → language structures cognitive
processes (e.g. problem solving).
• Davis et al. (2013): 5-year-old children with ICs use more
covert private speech than same age NIC peers.
• Brinthaupt & Dove (2012): adults with memories of
childhood ICs engage in greater self-talk
Creativity in children with Ics
Hoff (2005) found that children with ICs scored
higher on:
• Involvement in creative activities and hobbies (e.g.,
drawing, writing stories).
• Kidd et al. (2010): adults who had ICs as children
score higher on creativity
give an example of a study in creative writers and whether having an IT contributed to their creativity
Taylor et al. (2003): interviewed 50 creative writers.
Higher than normal incidence childhood ICs
what are negative associations of children with ICs
Bould & Pratt (2002): parents report higher anxiety in
IC children.
• Harter & Chao (1992): teachers judged children
with ICs as less competent and less socially
accepted
• Dawson et al. (2000): teachers tend to dislike creative
children.
Negative associations of children with ICs, how can it influence their life?
Lower psychological wellbeing than the norm
Hoff (2005): 10-year-olds with ICs rated themselves
as:
• Having fewer friends.
• Being different from others.
• Having lower psychological well-being
children with imaginary friends were shown to be more?
why?
Children with ICs have been shown to be more fantasy prone than children without ICs (‘NICs’) (Bouldin, 2006).
That IC children are more fantasy prone is part of what it means to have an IC, since these children have an _active fantasy life. _
describe private speech in children with ICs
how?
Children with ICs show advanced private speech
development (Davis et al., 2013)
Engaging with an IC gives children additional
exposure to spoken interaction (with their IC). Since private speech emerges from spoken interaction, IC children are more advanced.
what are cross-sectional studies?
what is a limitation?
Cross-sectional studies: compare different groups on a DV of interest.
• e.g., how does Working Memory develop with age?
limitation:
cohort effects.
what are longitudinal studies?
Assess the same individuals over time.
• Age-related changes rather than age differences.
- Each participant acts as a
- *control** for themselves.
• Reveals differences among
individuals as well as changes in
individuals over time.
• Enables research to better
isolate the source of change.
• But still vulnerable to c**ohort
effects **
what is a study that overcomes cohort effects?
sequential study
studying multiple cohorts longitudinally
Enables researchers to unambiguously distinguish
between age-related changesandcohort effects.
• But! Incredibly expensive.
benefit and disadvantage of using questionnaires to study development
Good way to collect large
amounts of data.
Data often answers general rather
than specific developmental
questions
is development same across children in the world?
Universal development: same pattern of development found in all children – it just looks different in different cultures (driving
force is biology)
Culturally-mediated approach: **aspects of environment (i.e., **
social and physical) lead to different developmental outcomes.
what are examples of importance of early experience?
Victor: 12yo boy who
emerged out of the forest in
France in 1800.
Genie
Orphange studies
