It has been suggested that children's drawings are associated with their representation ability. However, there is little research on the cognitive basis of drawing in young children. In this study, we investigated the relationship between drawing, language ability, and the presence of imaginary companions (ICs) in children aged between three and…

Interest in research on future thinking has surged over the last two decades but studies carried out among school age children would be lacking. Future thinking can be viewed as a cognitive function or a disposition, impacting a wide variety of behaviours across the lifespan. Future thinking would undergo developmental milestones in the school age…

Do adolescents remember imaginary companions (ICs) from early childhood? Researchers interviewed 46 adolescent participants in a prospective longitudinal study about their ICs from early childhood (age 5 1/2). The existence of one or more ICs was documented in early childhood for 48% of children (G. Trionfi & E. Reese, 2009). At age 16, most…

Drawing on evolutionary theory, the author questions which cognitive processes underlie the capacities to play and to pretend play and the degree to which they are present in both humans and nonhuman animals. Considering cognitive capacities not all-or-nothing phenomena, she argues they are present in varying degrees in a wide range of species.…

Research suggests that mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) enhances commitment and goal attainment. However, most studies have used limited comparison conditions. The present study compared MCII against two other potentially effective approaches: autonomous planning (AP), and solution-focused planning (SFP). It was thought…

An indirect connection between executive functioning and imagination was revealed earlier in the study of pretend play. This study aimed to explore the relationship between imagination and executive functions in children. Two-hundred-six typically developing children aged 6-7 years were assessed with main executive functions (working memory,…

Academic underachievement of students from disadvantaged backgrounds is an ongoing problem for Australian schooling. Schools serving these communities face profound challenges in meeting their students' educational needs. "Creative and Embodied" approaches draw on pedagogical practices inherent in Health and Physical Education and the…

The purpose of this article is to introduce a methodology for analyzing the complex configurations emerging in students' speech and drawing activities, having consequences for how and what students learn and make meaning of in science. Accordingly, we launch a methodology to unfold the multidimensional communication as to deepen the analysis of…

Inconsistent data are available on mental rotation performance in neurotypicals with high autistic-like traits. Here, we tested whether global-local visual processing abilities mediate the influence of specific autistic-like trait domains (social skill, attention switching, attention-to-detail, communication, and imagination) on mental rotation.…

This study examined the direct and indirect associations among imaginational over-excitability, cognitive play processes, affective play processes, and parent-reported creative potential of Hong Kong Chinese kindergarten children. Participants were 106 parents of local kindergarten children (43.4% girls, mean age = 60.1 months). Parents reported…

This study aims to examine the impact of affective states and affective shifts on ideation and evaluation of creativity. Affects were induced by a two-stage imagination procedure of recalling autobiographical experiences. Three periods of divergent thinking were measured to represent the participants' creative ideation at different times. Creative…

Doll play provides opportunities for children to practice social skills by creating imaginary worlds, taking others' perspectives, and talking about others' internal states. Previous research using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) found a region over the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) was more active during solo doll play…

Reports on differences between remembering the past and imagining the future have led to the hypothesis that constructing future events is a more cognitively demanding process. However, factors that influence these increased demands, such as whether the event has been previously constructed and the types of details comprising the event, have…

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…

The authors examine the pros and cons of games in the context of increasing students' creativity and scientific competence. Research materials and methods consisted of two tests. The first included the use of 7 pedagogical methods that are valid for the mental diagnosis of students: speed of thinking; method of thinking flexibility; method of…