The goal of this study was to examine maladaptive daydreaming and the associations with emotion regulation difficulties, creative processes, creative self-efficacy, and creative personal identity. A non-clinical sample of active participants (N = 361) was investigated. A series of Pearson correlations, multivariate, multilinear regressions, and…

The article deals with the analysis of literary narrative where a possible unreal fictional world and a possible real fictional world usually coexist. When the norms of life plausibility are consciously violated, the real and the unreal possible worlds are emphatically opposed. Hence, their certain aspects are depicted in a fantastically…

Mind wandering--mentation unrelated to one's current activity and surroundings--is a ubiquitous phenomenon, but seemingly competing ideas have been proposed regarding its relation to executive cognitive processes. The control-failure hypothesis postulates that executive processes prevent mind wandering, whereas the global availability hypothesis…

Based on the testimony of others, children learn about a variety of figures that they never meet. We ask when and how they are able to differentiate between the historical figures that they learn about (e.g., Abraham Lincoln) and fantasy characters (e.g., Harry Potter). Experiment 1 showed that both younger (3- and 4-year-olds) and older children…

Describes the stories told by two three-year-olds and suggests that the storytelling process is a healthy expression of children's imaginations. (DD)

Thematic fantasies of highly creative adolescents were rated by clinical psychologists as exhibiting greater primary-process thinking than the thematic reports of matched controls; they also included a greater proportion of unlikely combinations, fluid transformations, visual representations, magic occurrences, and contradictions. (Author)

Author indulges in a flight of whimsey over a tongue-in-cheek pipe dream he has had on counseling. (Author)

Using the Imaginal Processes Inventory, aspects of daydreaming and related mental activity were examined in a replication sample of males aged 17 to 91 years. The characteristics of daydreaming obtained in an original sample were obtained in the replication sample, thus supporting the outcomes reported earlier. (Author)

This paper outlines cognitive processes underpinning creative ability, considers their development, and discusses the creative potential of the individual at various life stages. Creativity is viewed as an outcome of self-directed transformational activity. The roles of fantasy and imagination are discussed, as is the contrast between public and…

Examines the differences between imagination, creativity, and fantasy, and presents the relationship of imagination to creativity. Suggests that the basic distinction between imagination and fantasy is that while imagination is related to reality, fantasy is related to unreality. The link between imagination and creativity lies in the opportunity…

The technique of Dialogue with the Higher Self is based on the assumption that within each of us is an endowment of wisdom, intuition, and a sense of purpose, which can become a source of guidance in everyday life. This article discusses dialogue techniques, discrimination, and interpretation. (Author/JEL)

Answers from the unconscious is a mental imagery technique generally used to acquire information, obtain guidance, and gain better understanding of our inner processes. The basic idea is to formulate a question, addressing it to one's unconscious, and allowing the answer to emerge in the form of a mental image. (Author)

A theory of teaching creative writing that involves preconscious learning is presented in this paper. Following a review of the literature on methods of developing writing ability, the paper describes a three-step creative process of preparation (the gathering and study of appropriate materials), incubation (the preconscious absorption and shaping…

Presents a framework within which to organize and synthesize existing knowledge about children's understanding of the mental states of imagination, pretense, and dreams. Concludes that by the age of three, children understand important fundamental aspects of the mental nature, origin, and truth-relation of fictional mental states, but that their…