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Paracosms: The Imaginary Worlds of Middle Childhood
Author(s) -
Taylor Marjorie,
Mottweiler Candice M.,
Aguiar Naomi R.,
Naylor Emilee R.,
Levernier Jacob G.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13162
Subject(s) - the imaginary , creativity , psychology , comprehension , narrative , developmental psychology , inhibitory control , fictional universe , psychoanalysis , cognition , literature , social psychology , linguistics , art , philosophy , neuroscience
The invention of imaginary worlds (“paracosms”) is a creative activity of middle childhood that has previously been investigated primarily with retrospective adult reports and biographical accounts. In descriptions collected from 8‐ to 12‐year‐old children, the prevalence was 16.9% in Study 1 ( n = 77) and 17.4% in Study 2 ( n = 92). Children with and without paracosms did not differ in verbal comprehension, divergent thinking (Studies 1 and 2) or working memory (Study 2). However, children with paracosms had more difficulty with inhibitory control (Study 2) and had higher creativity scores on a story‐telling task (Studies 1 and 2). Paracosms provided a vehicle for stories associated with imaginary companions and/or for developing complex narratives alone or with friends.