Researchers take on imaginary playmates -- for real

[Dover]

Researchers take on imaginary playmates -- for real

By CECELIA GOODNOW
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

A peek into one of the most intriguing childhood mysteries reveals that imaginary playmates are a staple of early development and persist well into the school years -- later than researchers once thought.

"I'm beginning to think it never goes away," said Marjorie Taylor, head of psychology at the University of Oregon and a leading researcher on children's pretend play. "What I think is it morphs into a different form."

Taylor and University of Washington researcher Stephanie Carlson explored the hidden world of imaginary companions in a study that appears in the current issue of the journal Developmental Psychology.

"The phenomenon of the imaginary friend is really misunderstood," Taylor said. "People thought it was rare -- it's not. People thought it was a red flag -- it's not."

In fact, previous studies have shown that kids who invent imaginary friends -- whether invisible beings or personified toys -- tend to have better verbal skills and better social understanding. But a lack of such pals is OK, too.

"There are lots of ways to express creativity," Taylor said...cont'd

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/202632_imaginary07.html

[Pathwalker]

1. Thank you Dover. I'm so glad to find out

I am not the only one who had more than one of these friends. And yes, at least for me, they DO play a part of later creativity.
You post the most interesting articles; even though I don't always post, I want you to know I love reading them.
Thanks!

[Dover]

3. Thanks NB! I'm really elated when others find things as interesting

as I do. It makes it fun to share.

[hippiechick]

2. HippieKid's best friend was a cartoon character

Patty Mayonnaise from the Nickelodeon 'Doug' series. :shrug:
She went everywhere with us from the time HK was 3. She went on the schoolbus for the first day of first grade, but when we moved to Indy at the end of first grade, Patty stayed in Wisconsin. (Pretty resourceful for an animated 7 year old, I'd say) :)

My sister thought it was odd/funny and a sign that something was 'off' with my daughter. Today, her kid is mediocre and HippieKid is learning French, plays violin and is learning the bass, writes short stories about HippieDog Hank's adventures and draws her own cartoons.

Uh ... yeah. Something was wrong with my kid for having the imagination enough to invent a friend at age 3. Ok. :eyes:


:hippie:

[LWolf]

5. My youngest son had an imaginary friend.

His imaginary friend had a similar, but not precisely the same, name as he did. He told many long, involved stories packed with minute details about this imaginary friend. He also pulled him out of his bag of tricks to debate "rules." I can't tell you how many times I heard, "Johnny is allowed to pick his nose all the time." "Johnny can cross the street by himself." Johnny was apparently allowed to do whatever crossed his mind, whenever the thought happened to occur.

One day, we had walked the dog down to an open field, a few blocks down the street from our house. We were on his way back, when he suddenly pointed to a house we were passing and shouted, "This is Johnny's house; let's go see if he's home!" Then he determinedly tried to drag me up the walk, while I tried to come up with a reason not to. I won.

I think he was about 4 years old at the time.

Johnny eventually faded from our lives. I never did get to meet Johnny. Maybe I should have knocked on the door, after all.

[cliss]

4. Question:

who are these imaginary playmates? I never had one as a child. Nor do I recall that my siblings did either. At least, not that I knew of. The only one that comes to mind would be my niece. She's in her early 20's now.

As a youngster, she would carry on conversations with her invisible playmate. She would actually look up, into thin air, and address this "person". And she would apparently hear something that the rest of us wouldn't. My mom thought this was really odd.

This went on for maybe 10 years. Then this "playmate" disappeared, or we never heard about it again. Very odd.

Now I'm wondering, are these "friends" actually disembodied people who are still on the earthly plane? I've often wondered that. I just know that kids are much more open and willing to see things that adults aren't.