Imagination

Imagination is a human capacity that reproduces and transforms experiences and thoughts. The capacity is manifested in children’s pretend play and is an important part of adults’ ability to process the past, and to plan the future. A first step in the development of imagination is the ability to represent objects and events and to change these representations into alternatives to reality. For adaptive use of the imagination, some intentional regulation is necessary. Therefore, a second step involves developing control functions to distinguish reality from imagination, to switch between, and to integrate these modes in for example, creative performance.