At What Age Do Children Have Imaginary Friends?

Discussion Paracosms are imaginary worlds or societies and is a creative activity in middle childhood. Storytelling and narrative activities are believed to help people “…to promote insight into behavior, contribute to empathy, help us find meaning in life events, and extend our experience beyond personal circumstance.” These narrative activities are public or private and based in real or fictional experiences. They can be communicated verbally or acted out and can focus on the character or the plot of the narrative. There is not a great deal of research on paracosms and much is asking adults to remember to their own childhoods where some type of paracosm is endorsed by about 40% of the individuals in the particular research group. In two studies of 8-12 year olds, there was a ~17% prevalence of a paracosm. Those with and without a paracosm did not differ in many ways, but those with a paracosm had more inhibitory control and had higher creativity scores especially in storytelling tasks and potentially in creative ways to make new friends. Imaginary friends (IFs), invisible friends, imaginary companions, etc. are often a part of a paracosm and may “…facilitate the development of social competence, particularly with respect to the regulation of emotion and the acquisition of interpersonal skills useful in adulthood, such as cooperation and perspective taking.” There is no prototype for an IF. An IF “is a character, sometimes invisible ...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news