Students today may have less time for free play, but new research suggests their imaginations have actually sharpened compared with those of children two decades ago. In an analysis published in May 2011 in the "Creativity Research Journal" and posted online in May, researchers from Case Western University in Cleveland found elementary school children in 2008 were significantly more imaginative and took greater comfort in playing make-believe than their counterparts in 1985 in spite of having less time either during or after school for free play. The Case Western researchers found that across 14 studies spanning 23 years, children showed no difference in the organization or emotional engagement of their play or storytelling. There was a marked increase, on a one-to-five scale, in the quality of imagination they displayed during the sessions. Children who rate highly in imaginative and emotional play are not necessarily more intelligent than other children, but they do show better coping skills, creativity, and problem solving than students who rate low on the play scale.