Do adolescents remember imaginary companions (ICs) from early childhood? Researchers interviewed 46 adolescent participants in a prospective longitudinal study about their ICs from early childhood (age 5 1/2). The existence of one or more ICs was documented in early childhood for 48% of children (G. Trionfi & E. Reese, 2009). At age 16, most…

This study examined the direct and indirect associations among imaginational over-excitability, cognitive play processes, affective play processes, and parent-reported creative potential of Hong Kong Chinese kindergarten children. Participants were 106 parents of local kindergarten children (43.4% girls, mean age = 60.1 months). Parents reported…

This study aims to examine the impact of affective states and affective shifts on ideation and evaluation of creativity. Affects were induced by a two-stage imagination procedure of recalling autobiographical experiences. Three periods of divergent thinking were measured to represent the participants' creative ideation at different times. Creative…

The development of group creativity can be challenging for both young students and their teachers. This study examined the processes and learning outcomes of group creativity training from the perspectives of elementary school students and teachers while identifying critical factors that contributed to the success of the training. Data were…

This paper views creativity as the combination of the conditions of interaction and transformation-imagination-fantasy. These conditions operate together, simultaneously, in order to define the complex process of creativity. (DB)

Describes research on creative processes, in which subjects were tested in a hypnotic experiment. (DR)

This paper outlines cognitive processes underpinning creative ability, considers their development, and discusses the creative potential of the individual at various life stages. Creativity is viewed as an outcome of self-directed transformational activity. The roles of fantasy and imagination are discussed, as is the contrast between public and…

The philosophy, purpose and methods of the Creative Problem-Solving Institute are discussed. (RW)

Seven principles are presented for improving creative thinking, based on assumptions of creativity as a perceptual shift resulting from a metamorphic mental image. Principles include (1) the future initiates and pulls creative thought; (2) initial fact finding is best postponed; (3) problem redefinition is often retrospective; and (4) metaphors…

A study examined the relationship between structured imagination and creativity in story writing among 108 undergraduates. Subjects produced paragraphs that were meaningful/original, meaningful/non-original, or non-meaningful/non-original. Results showed that groups 1 and 2 wrote psychologically meaningful stories significantly more than group 3…

Forty-two undergraduates were tested to determine how scores on visual and verbal divergent thinking tests would be affected by instructions to use visual imagery and by individual differences in visual imagery ability. Results indicated that such instructions may interfere with test performance, but that individual differences did not influence…