Imaginary Friends

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Abstract

Where do the imaginary friends go when their human creators grow up? Imaginary friends are often associated with children, but what about adults? The role of the imagination is often discouraged from childhood - the wish to play and explore. Why have an imaginary friend? What purpose do they still serve? Where has the imaginary been in the story of your life? Can it be an antidote to loneliness, or is it the need for something other? Are you still intrigued? The aim of this on-going project is to create an interaction and dialogue with the public both online and also as a physical activity.

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Imaginary companions of preschool children.

Tracy R Gleason, Anne Sebanc, Willard Hartup (2000)

The developmental significance of preschool children's imaginary companions was examined. Mothers of 78 children were interviewed about their children's social environments and imaginary companions (if their children had them). Results revealed differences between invisible companions and personified objects (e.g., stuffed animals or dolls) in terms of the pretend friends' stability and ubiquity, identity, and relationship with the child. Relationships with invisible companions were mostly described as sociable and friendly, whereas personified objects were usually nurtured. Mothers reported that personification of objects frequently occurred as a result of acquiring a toy, whereas invisible friends were often viewed as fulfilling a need for a relationship. Compared to children without imaginary companions, children with imaginary companions were more likely to be firstborn and only children.

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Jairo Zaldua

Nicola Green

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Publication date: July 2018

Publication date (Print): July 2018

Pages: 115-116

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Flat 11, Longley House

244 Tufnell Park Road

London N19 5HB, UK

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DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVA2018.21

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

Conference acronym: EVA

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Conference location: London, UK

Conference date: 9 - 13 July 2018

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

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Product Information: 1477-9358BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVA2018.21

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

Imaginary Friends

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Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Most cited references 1

Imaginary companions of preschool children.

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