Imaginary companions, theory of mind and emotion understanding in young children

Giménez‐Dasí, Marta; Pons, Francisco; Bender, Patrick K.

doi:10.1080/1350293x.2014.919778

Cited by 39 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…It has been shown that about half of preschool children play with ICs in Western countries. ICs may play an important role in children's social and cognitive development (Giménez‐Dasí, Pons, & Bender, ; Taylor, ; Taylor & Carlson, ), although there is mixed evidence for the effects of ICs on theory of mind (Davis, Meins, & Fernyhough, ; Lillard et al, ).…”

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Prevalence of imaginary companions in Japanese children

Moriguchi

Todo

2017

Int J Psychol

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Having an imaginary companion (IC) is an example of children's pretend play. However, most research regarding children's ICs is from Western cultures. In this study, the prevalence of ICs was assessed among Japanese children (2- to 9-year-old children, N = 800). The developmental (age), biological (sex), and environmental (birth order) effects on Japanese children's ICs were also assessed. Moreover, whether IC status can be an indicator of fantasy orientation in Japanese children was examined. The results revealed that the prevalence of the invisible friend was relatively rare, but the personified object was prevalent in Japanese children. Age and sex, but not birth order, significantly affected the prevalence of ICs in Japan. Moreover, IC status significantly indicated children's fantasy orientation. The results suggest that the characteristics of Japanese children's ICs are partly different from those in Western children. Social-cultural contexts can affect this difference.

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Prevalence of imaginary companions in Japanese children

Moriguchi

Todo

2017

Int J Psychol

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“…Research indicates that children can give identities to objects when engaging in pretend play in object personification and anthropomorphism (for example, Gjersoe, Hall & Hood, 2015) where the attribution of human type qualities is given to inanimate objects where 'objects (for example, toys, blankets or any other everyday object) [are] constantly treated by the child as alive' (Giménez-Dasí, Pons & Bender, 2016, p. 190). Personified objects are identified as being different from imaginary companions, as the former involves the transformation of a physical object and the latter relates to an invisible other that only the child can 'see' (Giménez-Dasí et al, 2016, Trionfi & Reese, 2009). …”

Section: Object Personification and Voice Projection In Role-playmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ventriloquism as early literacy practice: making meaning in pretend play

Bateman

2016

Early Years

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This article discusses how children in New Zealand make meaning in their spontaneous pretend play from kindergarten (four years old) through to their first year of primary school (five years old). The findings discussed here are taken from a wider project investigating children's storytelling where 12 child participants were video recorded during their everyday storytelling experiences over a three-year period. This article reveals how children's engagement in pretend play often involves playing out an impromptu storyline where ventriloquism is used to talk objects into life through paralinguistic features such as gesture, gaze and voice prosody. These findings suggest that through the act of ventriloquism in pretend play children learn to engage in complex meaning making activities in playful ways, orally formulating characters and building coherent and systematic storylines that can be identified as early literacy practices.Keywords: pretend play; storytelling; early literacy practices; New Zealand; object personification and voice projection; ventriloquism Acknowledgements Thank you to the children, families and teachers who participated in this research. I would also like to thank the members of the UCLA CLIC winter quarter 2016 group in Chuck Goodwin's Co-Operative Action Lab for their exceptional insight into the data, and the members of Linköping Conversation and Interaction Analysis Group for their generous discussions around the data. Thanks also go to Friederike Kern for insightful discussions around Laver's voice quality. Funding: Thanks is given to the New Zealand Teaching and Learning Research Initiative for funding the project that this data belongs to, 'Literacy and narrative in the early years: Zooming in and zooming out'. 2 AbstractThis article discusses how children in New Zealand make meaning in their spontaneous pretend play from kindergarten (four years old) through to their first year of primary school (five years old). The findings discussed here are taken from a wider project investigating children's storytelling where 12 child participants were video recorded during their everyday storytelling experiences over a three-year period. This article reveals how children's engagement in pretend play often involves playing out an impromptu storyline where ventriloquism is used to talk objects into life through paralinguistic features such as gesture, gaze and voice prosody. These findings suggest that through the act of ventriloquism in pretend play children learn to engage in complex meaning making activities in playful ways, orally formulating characters and building coherent and systematic storylines that can be identified as early literacy practices.

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“…Dječačka je imaginacija nerijetko i nešto drugačija od one u djevojčica, pri čemu dječaci osmišljavaju prijatelje s kojima proživljavaju razne avanture, a djevojčice se češće uključuju u igru pretvaranja koja zahtijeva brigu ili njegu. Sukladno tome, djevojčice će češće imati izmišljene prijatelje koji imaju važnu ulogu u stvaranju sociodramatičke igre, dok će dječaci češće utjeloviti snažniji i kompetentniji lik ili personificirati određeni objekt o kojima manje ovisi kreacija same igre (7,10,14,19). Te razlike ipak ostaju primijećene samo kod mlađih dobnih skupina, jer na uzorcima djece ranog škol-skog uzrasta, ali i kasnije, autori ne pronalaze statistički značajne spolne razlike u javljanju fenomena izmišljenih prijatelja (7,18).…”

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“…Ponekad su izmišlje-ni prijatelji ljudskih karakteristika (23), ali javljaju se i oni životinjskog oblika (18) neovisno o dobi javljanja (21). Druga pak istraživanja ukazuju da pojava izmišljenih prijatelja i psihopatologija nisu značajno povezane (12,14) te da čak izmišlje-ni prijatelji mogu imati važnu ulogu za mnoge pozitivne razvojne ishode (8,10,18,(28)(29)(30).…”

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The Relationship between Imaginary Companions, Social Competence and Behavioral Problems of Preschool Children

Rabar

Dorčić

2017

Soc psih

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Pitanje emocionalnih, socijalnih i kognitivnih razvojnih ishoda kod djece koja se uključuju u igru s izmišljenim prijateljima još je uvijek otvoreno. Stoga je cilj ovog istraživanja bio utvrditi učestalost i dob javljanja izmišljenih prijatelja te ispitati odnos između pojave izmišljenih prijatelja i socijalne kompetencije, internaliziranih i eksternaliziranih problema u ponašanju na uzorku djece predškolske dobi. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 224 roditelja djece u dobi od 2 do 7 godina. Roditelji su, osim davanja podataka o izmišljenim prijateljima djece, procjenjivali socijalnu kompetentnost djeteta te internalizirane i eksternalizirane probleme u ponašanju. Rezultati pokazuju kako je 40,2% djece u uzorku imalo izmišljenog prijatelja pri čemu je najčešća dob javljanja bila treća godina života. Izmišljeni prijatelji su se češće javljali kod djevojčica, a većina je djece osmišljavala samo jednog prijatelja koji je bio prisutan nekoliko mjeseci. Za 31 % djece izmišljeni je prijatelj bio dobi podjednake njihovoj, dok je za 92 % dječaka te 49 % djevojčica izmišljeni prijatelj bio i istog spola. Djeca s izmišljenim prijateljima i bez njih imala su podjednaku razinu socijalne kompetencije, no ne i eksternaliziranih problema, koji su bili manje zastupljeni u djece s izmišljenim prijateljima. Negativni učinci izmišljenih prijatelja vidljivi su u djevojčica pa djevojčice s izmišljenim prijateljima imaju značajno više internaliziranih problema od ostatka uzorka. / The question of emotional, social and cognitive development outcomes in children involved

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Imaginary companions, theory of mind and emotion understanding in young children

Cited by 39 publications

References 25 publications

Prevalence of imaginary companions in Japanese children

Prevalence of imaginary companions in Japanese children

Ventriloquism as early literacy practice: making meaning in pretend play

The Relationship between Imaginary Companions, Social Competence and Behavioral Problems of Preschool Children

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