Imagination and the generation of new ideas

Abstract

a b s t r a c tA variety of theories have been put forth to explain the function of imagination, most notably that imagination engages and develops children's theory of mind and counterfactual reasoning. Here, we propose that a primary role for imagination is as a cognitive mechanism for efficiently generating new ideas without observing new evidence. Learners must generate hypotheses before they can assess the truth of these hypotheses. Given infinite possibilities, how do learners constrain the process of hypothesis generation? We suggest that learners represent abstract criteria for the solution to a problem and generate solutions that, if true, would solve the problem. As a preliminary test of this idea, we show that, in the absence of any fact of the matter (i.e., when neither prior knowledge nor statistical data distinguishes competing hypotheses), 4-6-yearolds (mean: 63 months) systematically converge on solutions to problems, consistent with an ability to imagine the abstract properties of causal problems and their solutions.

Design Drives Discovery in Causal Learning

“…In addition, both preschoolers and adults privilege efficient design (selecting an object with a single feature for a single purpose over one with superfluous features; Kelemen, Seston, & Saint Georges, 2012), and map the quantity and diversity of object functions to infer the complexity of its internal mechanism (Ahl & Keil, 2016). Preschoolers also map the type of effect produced (i.e., discrete vs. continuous) to the mechanism that produced it (a binary "on/off" switch vs. a dial), providing evidence that even children relate the physical structure of an object's mechanism to its effect (Magid, Sheskin, & Schulz, 2015).…”

The architecture challenge: Future artificial-intelligence systems will require sophisticated architectures, and knowledge of the brain might guide their construction

“…can be invalidated a priori, even without knowing the correct answer. In recent experiments, Tsividis et al (2015) found that children can use high-level abstract features of a domain to guide hypothesis selection, by reasoning about distributional properties like the ratio of seeds to flowers, and dynamical properties like periodic or monotonic relationships between causes and effects (see also Magid et al 2015).…”

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“…This idea can lead us to a second interpretation of the present results; namely, to goal orientation. In other words, at older ages children have already started to understand that certain problems require solutions with specific characteristics (Magid, Sheskin, & Schulz, 2015). This could show that children start grasping the idea of goals and searching for answers that fit the characteristics of the problem; this is shown by the 6-7 years old children in Study 1, who either solved the problem with the target object or with one that resembled the characteristics of the target object.…”

“…Our second study showed that, as compared to adults, children gave more unusual answers for new objects. This finding may be closely related to imagination, which provides the individual with the chance to infer a richer set of links between the elements of the situation/object/problem (Magid et al, 2015).…”

“…The spontaneous approach young children take might be aided by processes such as imagination or pretend play, which are also interrelated. Imagination can be seen as a cognitive mechanism for efficiently generating new ideas without necessarily assessing their truth (Magid et al, 2015) and could be aided by the broad associations children make during pretend play, when they are in the exploration mindset (Pellegrini, 1984). Defined like this, the process closely resembles creativity 1, or the playfulness of coming up with new ideas (Glăveanu, 2011).…”