Allowing a person to navigate the situation and solve problems without the direct intervention of practical actions. It helps him in many ways in those cases of life when practical actions are either impossible, or difficult, or simply inappropriate. For example, when modeling abstract processes and objects.

A kind of creative imagination is fantasy. Imagination is one of the forms of mental reflection of the world. The most traditional point of view is the definition of imagination as a process (A. V. Petrovsky and M. G. Yaroshevsky, V. G. Kazakov and L. L. Kondratieva and others). According to M. V. Gamezo and I. A. Domashenko: “Imagination is a mental process, consisting in the creation of new images (representations) by processing the material of perceptions and representations obtained in previous experience.” Domestic authors also consider this phenomenon as an ability (V. T. Kudryavtsev, L. S. Vygotsky) and as a specific activity (L. D. Stolyarenko, B. M. Teplov). Taking into account the complex functional structure, L. S. Vygotsky considered it appropriate to use the concept of a psychological system.

According to E. V. Ilyenkov, the traditional understanding of the imagination reflects only its derivative function. The main one - allows you to see what is, what lies before your eyes, that is, the main function of the imagination is the transformation of an optical phenomenon on the surface of the retina into an image of an external thing.

Classification of imagination processes

According to the results:

• Reproductive imagination (recreating reality as it is)
• Productive (creative) imagination:
  • with relative novelty of images;
  • with absolute novelty.

Degree of focus:

• active (voluntary) - includes recreating and creative imagination;
• passive (involuntary) - includes unintentional and unpredictable imagination.

By type of images:

• concrete;
• abstract.

According to the methods of imagination:

• agglutination - the connection of objects that are not connected in reality;
• hyperbolization - an increase or decrease in an object and its parts;
• schematization - highlighting differences and identifying similarities;
• typification - highlighting the essential, recurring in homogeneous phenomena.

According to the degree of willpower:

• deliberate;
• unintentional.

Wallace's four-stage model of the creative process

Main article: Creativity as a process

• Preparation stage, information gathering. Ends with a feeling of inability to solve the problem.
• stage of incubation. key stage. The person does not consciously deal with the problem.
• Insight (enlightenment).
• Verification of the solution.

Imagination mechanisms

• agglutination - the creation of a new image from parts of other images;
• hyperbolization - an increase or decrease in an object and its parts;
• schematization - smoothing out differences between objects and revealing their similarities;
• accentuation - emphasizing the features of objects;
• typification - highlighting the repetitive and essential in homogeneous phenomena.

There are conditions conducive to finding a creative solution: observation, ease of combination, sensitivity to the manifestation of problems.

Guilford used the term "divergent thinking" instead of "imagination". It means the generation of new ideas for the purpose of human self-expression. Characteristics of divergent thinking:

• fluency;
• flexibility;
• originality;
• accuracy.

Development of imagination in children

Through creativity, the child develops thinking. This is facilitated by perseverance and expressed interests. The starting point for the development of the imagination should be directed activity, that is, the inclusion of children's fantasies in specific practical problems.

The development of imagination is facilitated by:

• situations of incompleteness;
• resolution and even encouragement of many issues;
• stimulation of independence, independent development;
• positive attention to the child from adults.

The development of imagination is hindered by:

• disapproval of the imagination;
• rigid sex-role stereotypes;
• separation of play and learning;
• willingness to change point of view;
• deference to authorities.

Imagination and reality

The world is perceived as an interpretation of data coming from the senses. As such, it is perceived as real, unlike most thoughts and images.

Imagination functions

• representation of reality in images, as well as the creation of the opportunity to use them when solving problems;
• regulation of emotional states;
• arbitrary regulation of cognitive processes and human states, in particular perception, attention, memory, speech, emotions;
• the formation of an internal plan of action - the ability to carry them out inside, manipulating images;
• planning and programming activities, drawing up programs, assessing their correctness, the implementation process.

Imagination and cognitive processes

Imagination is a cognitive process, the specificity of which is the processing of past experience.

The relationship between imagination and organic processes is most clearly manifested in the following phenomena: ideomotor act and psychosomatic illness. On the basis of the connection between the images of a person and his organic states, the theory and practice of psychotherapeutic influences are built. Imagination is inextricably linked with thinking. According to L. S. Vygotsky, a statement about the unity of these two processes is permissible.

Both thinking and imagination arise in a problem situation and are motivated by the needs of the individual. Both processes are based on leading reflection. Depending on the situation, the amount of time, the level of knowledge and its organization, the same task can be solved both with the help of imagination and with the help of thinking. The difference lies in the fact that the reflection of reality, carried out in the process of imagination, occurs in the form of vivid representations, while the anticipatory reflection in the processes of thinking occurs by operating with concepts that allow one to generalize and indirectly cognize the environment. The use of this or that process is dictated, first of all, by the situation: creative imagination works mainly at that stage of cognition, when the uncertainty of the situation is large enough. Thus, the imagination allows you to make decisions even with incomplete knowledge.

In its activity, the imagination uses traces of past perceptions, impressions, ideas, that is, traces of memory (engrams). The genetic relationship between memory and imagination is expressed in the unity of the analytical and synthetic processes that form their basis. The fundamental difference between memory and imagination is found in the different direction of the processes of active operation with images. Thus, the main tendency of memory is the restoration of a system of images as close as possible to the situation that took place in the experiment. Imagination, on the contrary, is characterized by the desire for the maximum possible transformation of the original figurative material.

Imagination is included in perception, affects the creation of images of perceived objects and, at the same time, itself depends on perception. According to Ilyenkov's ideas, the main function of the imagination is the transformation of an optical phenomenon, consisting in irritation of the surface of the retina by light waves, into an image of an external thing.

Imagination is closely related to the emotional sphere. This connection has a dual character: on the one hand, the image is able to evoke the strongest feelings, on the other hand, an emotion or feeling that has once arisen can cause active imagination. This system is considered in detail by L. S. Vygotsky in his work “Psychology of Art”. The main conclusions he comes to can be summarized as follows. According to the law of the reality of feelings, "all our fantastic and unreal experiences, in essence, proceed on a completely real emotional basis." Based on this, Vygotsky concludes that fantasy is the central expression of an emotional reaction. According to the law of unipolar waste of energy, nervous energy tends to be wasted at one pole - either in the center or on the periphery; any increase in energy expenditure on one pole immediately entails a weakening of it on the other. Thus, with the intensification and complication of fantasy as the central moment of an emotional reaction, its peripheral side (external manifestation) is delayed in time and weakens in intensity. Thus, the imagination allows you to get a variety of experiences and at the same time remain within the framework of socially acceptable behavior. Everyone gets the opportunity to work through excessive emotional stress, discharging it with the help of fantasies, and thus compensating for unmet needs.

see also

• The power of imagination

Notes

Literature

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• Imagination // Philosophical encyclopedic Dictionary. Moscow: Infra-M, . - 576 p.
• Nikolaenko N. N. Psychology of creativity. St. Petersburg: Speech, . - 288 p. (Series: "Modern Textbook")
• Egan, Kieran. Imagination in Teaching and Learning. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, .
• Gamezo M.V., Domashenko I. A. Atlas of psychology. Moscow: Pedagogical Society of Russia,
• Vygotsky L. S. Psychology of art. Analysis of aesthetic response. M.: Labyrinth, .
• Vygotsky L. S. Imagination and creativity in childhood. Moscow: Enlightenment, .
• Petrovsky A.V., Berkinblit M. B. Fantasy and reality. Moscow: Politizdat, .
• Ilyenkov E. V. On the imagination // Public education. . No. 3.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

Synonyms:

• Shub-Niggurath
• Richard Sharp

See what "Imagination" is in other dictionaries:

IMAGINATION- fantasy is the ability of human consciousness to create images that have no direct analogues in reality. Philosophy studies the creative productive V., which, starting from the available thing with its random signs and features ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

imagination- a mental process, expressed: 1) in the construction of the image, means and final result of the objective activity of the subject; 2) in creating a program of behavior when ... Great Psychological Encyclopedia

IMAGINATION- rules the world. Napoleon I The richness of associations does not always indicate the richness of the imagination. Karol Izhikovsky Many people confuse their imagination with their memory. Henry Wheeler Shaw We are all heroes of our novels. Mary McCarthy (see FICTION AND FANTASY) ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms

Imagination is an area of ​​the human psyche that is often underestimated, but it is it that can have a significant impact on real life- enrich it, deplete it, replace it with a fruitless fantasy.

Essence and mechanism

- this is a productive activity of the psyche, in which new images are created on the basis of the transformation of realistic ideas received earlier in human experience. He didn't see living dinosaurs or a time machine, he might not hear the surf or smell the desert, but he can imagine it in familiar imagery.

Perception is the material for fantasy. The original images are processed. They highlight elements that can transform - become more or less real, combine in incredible combinations, change places, appear in unrealistic quantities.

This is how fantasy images of objects appear that could not be perceived: Gulliver in the country of midgets or giants, a hut on chicken legs, Pegasus, the many-armed deity Shiva, a three-headed dragon, Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir. Imagination can sharpen certain features - this is how a caricature, a grotesque, arises.

Images can become schemas when insignificant differences are erased, and the main properties are revealed very clearly. Emoticons are a vivid example of a schematic image processing.

Imagination typifies - human characters, places, events. Elves, gnomes, orcs are types. Turgenev young ladies and "hard nuts" of blockbusters are also types.

Then the images of the imagination are transformed, which gives rise to very complex fantasies.

The emotional component of images of the imagination leads to unexpected, logically incomprehensible associations. Original combinations of parts of the human body, spaces, technical devices amaze the audience in the works of surrealists who rely on fantasy (S. Dali, R. Magritte, etc.).

The result of the activity of the imagination is the crystallization of the image in a visible, tangible product - a picture, an invention, an artistic text, a model, a program. The imagination does not always go through a full cycle. Dreamers go from fantasy to fantasy without ever realizing a single idea.

Functions

1. Encouragement of activity with the help of a bright, attractive image of its result, means and methods of implementation, generalized ideas and specific plans.
2. Regulation of behavior in an uncertain, problematic situation with the help of images of alternative actions and their consequences.
3. Emotional self-regulation, autopsychotherapy, illusory satisfaction of needs. With this function comes the risk of escaping from reality. The replacement of reality with game images is one of the consequences of gambling addiction.
4. The organization of knowledge is the reconstruction of the object according to the description, the completion of the missing elements, modeling.

Kinds

active imagination enhances the motivation of activity and a person transforms reality - invents, embodies an artistic concept, brings the future he dreams of closer.

• Active recreating builds an image according to the description.
• Active creative builds an image of something that did not exist yet.

All culture is created by creative imagination.

passive imagination undermines the motivation of real behavior, the images reproduce themselves. Dreams and projects multiply and do not become a reality. A time-out is necessary, but the pause can drag on, and life will pass like a dream.

• Passive intentional is controlled by a person who himself evokes memories, dreams, fantasies.
• Passive unintentional controls a person when he takes delusional, dream images for reality.

Imagination and desire to achieve

For the first three years of life, the child is under the influence of direct impressions from objects that are accessible to perception. Then imagination is formed - the ability to mentally see the missing objects and situations of manipulation with them, transform them, desire or be afraid.

Since then, two trends have emerged. One is to persistently master objects presented in the imagination - to get a coveted toy, a trip to the zoo, a favorite pastime. The other is to give up achievement and make do with imagination. Their balance depends on the family environment and the already established qualities of the baby's personality.

Ways to develop imagination

1. Enrichment of the experience of perception, tk. the imagination operates with material obtained from the perception of real objects.
2. The development of speech, because it allows you to name the elements of the image, rearrange them, swap them, increase, multiply, formalize the idea, exchange ideas. Playing with words, the child creates new images.
3. Support for spontaneous and organized children's creativity - drawing, simple music-making, inventing fairy tales, fables.
4. Support and enrichment of children's play, as the game occupies an intermediate position between reality and imagination, provides experience for building an adaptive connection between imagination and reality.
5. Methodological techniques - word games, drawing pictures, composing plots, using and combining unusual techniques, needlework materials, etc.

Imagination will help you plan, anticipate risks, inspire action, find non-trivial solutions (see reproductive imagination), empathize, create. The main thing is not to replace real life.

Imagination is a property of the psyche to create images in the mind. All processes that take place in images are called imaginations. Imagination as a mental process constitutes visual-figurative thinking, thanks to which a person can navigate, look for a solution to problems without the direct intervention of practical actions. This process is very essential, especially in cases where it is impossible or difficult to carry out the necessary practical action, or it is simply inexpedient.

This process displays the world human at higher mental levels. The most popular definition of imagination is a mental process, the essence of which is the creation of new unique images, through the processing of the perceived material of representations that came with previous experience. It is also considered as a phenomenon, as an ability and as a specific activity of the subject. This process has a complex functional structure, so Vygotsky defined it as a psychological system.

The function of imagination is peculiar only to man and has a certain meaning in a specific professional activity person. Before starting to perform a certain activity, he imagines what kind of this object will be and mentally creates an algorithm of actions. Thus, a person constructs in advance the image of a future object or the final result of an activity. Developed creative imagination plays a great role in creative professions. Thanks to their developed creative abilities, people earn big money.

There are several types of imagination: active (voluntary), passive (involuntary), recreative, creative.

Imagination in psychology

Imagination is a process of cognition of the surrounding world. The outside world seems to be imprinted in the subconscious of a person. Thanks to this, a person is able to remember old and recent events, to program, to imagine the future. Often this process is called the ability to imagine missing objects in one's thoughts, to keep their image, to manipulate it in consciousness. Sometimes it is confused with, but really these are two different mental processes.

The imagination tends to create images based on memory rather than information from the outside world. It is less real because it has a component of fantasy and dreams. Even the most pragmatic, skeptical, boring people have imagination. It is impossible to attach a person who has completely lost such a function. The behavior of these people is governed by their principles, logic, facts, they always do everything according to the rules. But to say that they completely lack creative thinking or that they never dream is very wrong. It's just that this is the type of people in whom these processes are not sufficiently developed or they do not use them, or do not know how to use them. Often such people have a monotonous typical life that repeats the same every day and they act according to a certain algorithm, believing that they have no time for more. In fact, it is a pity for such people, because their life is boring, they do not use the abilities that are given to them by nature. Creative imagination makes people individual, non-repeating personalities.

Imagination as a mental process has certain functions that help a person become special.

cognitive function is contained in expanding the horizons of a person, gaining knowledge, constructing a person’s behavior in an uncertain situation, guided by conjectures and considerations.

Prediction function suggests that the properties of the imagination help a person to imagine the end result of an unfinished action. It is this function that contributes to the formation of dreams and dreams in people.

Understanding function is displayed in a person’s ability to assume what a person is now experiencing, what emotions he is overwhelmed with, what feelings he is experiencing. Similar to this function is the state of empathy, when a person is able to penetrate the world of another and understand what worries him.

The protection function assumes that by predicting future events, thinking about the course of actions and the consequences of these actions, a person can prevent troubles, protect himself from possible problems.

Self-development function is displayed in a person's ability to fantasize, invent and create.

Memory function It is expressed in the ability of a person to remember past events, to recreate frames of the past in his head. It is stored in the form of images and representations.

The above functions are not always fully expressed in all people. Each personality is dominated by a certain function, which often determines the character and behavior of a person. To understand how images and representations are created, it is necessary to follow the main ways of their creation. Each path is a complex multi-level mental process.

Agglutination is the creation of unreal, completely new, fabulous objects or phenomena that appear under the influence of properties and appearance some existing object, evaluating and analyzing the properties of which a person creates an object similar to him. That is, there is an original object on the basis of which a prototype is formed. This technique is very popular in creating fairy tales or myths.

Emphasizing is the process of fixing on one dominant characteristic highlighted in some object (person, object, activity, phenomenon) and its hyperbolization. Emphasis is often used in their work by artists in the creation of cartoons and caricatures.

Typification is the process of highlighting the main characteristics in several objects, and creating an image from them, completely new, but containing a piece of each of them. With the help of this technique, literary heroes and characters are created.

All of the above methods of imagination are actively used in psychology, creativity, and even scientific activity. For example, in medicine, new drugs are created based on existing ones. Also, modern technology, electronics, gadgets, inventions were developed on the basis of previously existing knowledge, schemes, theories and skills. Having collected from them the most important information, having processed it, scientists receive a completely new product. If people had no imagination, humanity would not be able to progress in all spheres and activities.

Imagination as a mental process involves the creation of new images based on existing experience. The ideas that appear in the images in the human head have not yet begun to be realized do not exist, but there is a possibility that in the future they can be brought to life. This process is based on the reformulation of information and impressions of the subject. The more the situation seems incomprehensible and complex, the more the imagination process is involved. This process is of great importance in the professional activity of a person. It also greatly influences feelings and emotions, and plays a large role in the development of personality.

In the creative and working process, imagination enables the individual to regulate and manage her activities, as well as control her speech, emotions, attention and memory. Helps to create and use images of reality. It improves the psychological state of a person, prevents stress and depression. With the help of imagination, he is able to plan his future activities in his mind, manipulating images. Imagination and individuality are the criteria in assessing the talent and abilities of a person, which is important in labor activity.

A person reflects the surrounding reality mainly in a figurative way. The image is a non-static phenomenon, it tends to change constantly. This process has a dynamic connection with the objects of the surrounding reality. Consequently, imagination is not some kind of abstraction, but a specific process associated with the real mental activity of the subject. This activity is also dynamic in nature.

Imagination is a process of self-knowledge of a person, disclosure of his abilities, other people and the world around him, and events taking place. This is a special form of the human psyche, occupying a place between perception, memory and thought processes. Visual-figurative thinking and imagination complement each other, imagination is its basis and makes it possible to show resourcefulness in an unfamiliar situation, to find a solution to a problem without applying any actions.

Types of imagination

This process, as a complex mental process, can also be of several types. Regarding the features of the process, they distinguish: involuntary, arbitrary, recreating, creative, and dreams.

involuntary imagination also called passive. This is the simplest view and it consists in creating and combining views, their components in new image when a person does not have a direct intention to do this, when the consciousness is weak, and there is little control over the flow of ideas.

passive imagination occurs in young children. It manifests itself most often when a person is in a drowsy, half-asleep state, then the images arise on their own (therefore arbitrary), one changes to another, they combine, take on the most unrealistic forms and types.

Not only in the drowsy state does such imagination operate, it also manifests itself in the waking state. New ideas do not always appear when a person purposefully directs his consciousness to creation. A feature of the created images is their variability as a result of the instability of trace excitations of the brain and the ease of their relationship with excitation processes in adjacent brain centers. Since the trajectory of arousal is not fixed, this makes imagination so easy. It is especially easy in children, in which, moreover, there is no critical thinking, which acts as a filtering mechanism in adults, so the child sometimes gives out the most unrealistic fantasized images. Only by acquiring life experience and forming a critical attitude, such unintentional imagination is gradually put in order and guides consciousness, therefore a deliberate active representation is formed.

Arbitrary imagination, also called active, is the deliberate construction of representations of the corresponding task in a certain activity. Active imagination develops when children begin to play roles (doctor, salesman, teacher). When they try to portray their role, they have to strain their brains as accurately as possible, thus using their imagination. Further development of this process takes place when a person begins to act independently, shows initiative and creative efforts in the process of labor, requiring clear and accurate representations of the subject, which will be created from operations and which must be performed.

active imagination most of all manifested in the creative activity of man. In this process, a person sets himself a task, which is the starting point for the development of the imagination process. Since the products of this activity are objects of art, the imagination is governed by the demands that follow from the specific features of art.

The recreative aspect of this process is contained in the fact that a person must create an image of an object that he has never seen, based on certain descriptions.

Recreating imagination according to the psychological structure, it is the translation of the second-signal stimulus into the second-signal image.

The re-creative imagination embraces what is created, what already exists, and how it exists. It is not separate from reality, and if we move away from it a little, then the imagination will not correspond to the goals of cognition - to expand the field of human knowledge, reducing descriptions to visual images.

The recreating imagination helps a person to be transported to other countries, to space, to see historical events and objects that he has never seen before in his life, but after recreating he can imagine. This process allows people who read works of art recreate pictures, events and characters in your head.

creative imagination also referred to as active imagination, it is involved in the formation of new images in creative activity, art, science, technical activity. Composers, writers, artists resort to such a process in order to display life in images in their art. They create artistic images through which they reflect life as truthfully as possible, and not photographically copy the events of life. These images also reflect individuality. creative personality, his approach to life, artistic style.

Creative imagination is also used in scientific activities, which cannot be interpreted as ordinary mechanical knowledge of phenomena. The construction of hypotheses is a creative process, which is then confirmed by practice.

There is another peculiar kind of this process - it is a dream, as a representation of what is desired in the future. It is created meaningfully, as opposed to unintentional dreams. A person consciously directs his thoughts to the formation of desired goals, planning strategies to achieve these goals and translating them into real life.

Dreaming can be helpful, but it can also be harmful. When a dream is transcendent, unreal, not connected with life, it relaxes the will of a person, reduces his activity and slows down psychological development. Such dreams are empty, meaningless, they are called dreams. When a dream is connected with reality, and potentially real, it helps a person to mobilize, to combine efforts and resources to achieve the goal. Such a dream is an incentive for active action and the rapid development of the best qualities of the individual.

Imagination and creativity

Creativity is the process of creating fundamentally new or improved methods for solving tasks and problems. It becomes obvious that imagination and the creative process are very interconnected.

Imagination is defined here as the transformation of ideas about reality and the creation of new images on this basis. It works every time a person thinks about some object or phenomenon, without even coming into direct contact with it. Thanks to the creative imagination, this representation is transformed.

Creative thinking and imagination have their own specific features. Through this process, it is possible to create completely new unique representations based on the subject's own ideas and thoughts, in which the individuality of the creator is expressed. It can be arbitrary and involuntary. To a large extent, the creative imagination or inclination for it is conditioned from birth, but it can also be developed.

The development of creative imagination occurs in three stages. The first is a creative idea. At first, a fuzzy image appears in the mind of the creator, the initial idea, which can be created arbitrarily, without purposeful comprehension of the idea. The second stage involves nurturing the idea. A person thinks about strategies for translating an idea into reality, mentally improves it. The third stage completes the nurturing of the idea and brings it to life.

The development of creative imagination is carried out in the process of transition from involuntary to arbitrary, from recreative to creative. During childhood and adolescence, creative imagination has characteristics, it is special for its magic, fantastic judgments about the world and the absence of a critical component of thinking and rationality. During adolescence, complex changes occur in the body, respectively, in the mind as well. Objectivity is developed, perception becomes more critical. Rationality of perception appears a little later, when a person becomes an adult. Adult reason begins to control the imagination, often too much criticality and practicality weakens the processes of fantasizing, overflowing them with meaning, loading them with some kind of unnecessary, in fact, information.

There are certain methods for developing creative thinking. The most practical method is reading literature and watching scientific films, expanding the circle of one's knowledge, drawing knowledge from different areas of life, memorizing and analyzing information. In this case, a large number of materials for creative processes appear.

Imagine imaginary objects, punch through various manipulations with them. For example, imagine the sea, hear the sound of breaking waves, feel the breath of sea freshness, imagine entering the water, feel its temperature, and so on. Or another example, imagine a pear. Imagine its shape, size, color. Engage tactile perception, imagine it when it is in your hand, feel its surface, aroma. You can mentally bite off a piece of it, imagine the taste.

For the imagination to be arbitrary, it is necessary to work on it, regularly conducting training. To make the effect even greater, you need to look for sources of inspiration, ask friends for help, ask about their ideas. Try group work on creating ideas, sometimes the results are very unique, and a person becomes more active if the imagination process takes place in a circle of other creative individuals.

Development of the imagination

The development of thinking is a purposeful process, the main task of which is the development of brilliance and showiness, originality and depth, as well as the productivity of imaginary images. In its development, imagination as a mental process is subject to the same laws as other ontogenetic transformations. mental processes.

The imagination of a preschooler develops very quickly, it is presented in two forms: the generation of an idea and the strategy for its implementation. Also, the preschooler's imagination performs, in addition to the cognitive-intellectual function, also an affective-protective one, which is expressed in protecting the child's weak personality from too difficult emotional experiences. The cognitive function helps to better recognize the world, interact with it, and solve tasks.

Development of imagination in children has a dependence on the process of objectification of the image by the action. During this process, the child tries to manage the images he created, change them, improve them, that is, take control. But he is not yet able to plan his imagination, a similar ability is developed by the age of four or five.

The affective development of the imagination in children occurs at the age of 2.5 - 4 or 5 years. The negative experiences of children are symbolically displayed in the characters, as a result of which the child begins to imagine situations in which the threat is removed. After that, the ability to relieve emotional stress appears, using the projection mechanism, when negative qualities, which are really in the child, begin to be attributed to other objects.

The development of imagination in children of six or seven years old reaches a level at which many children have already learned to imagine themselves and imagine life in their own world.

The development of the imagination takes place in the process of human ontogenesis, under the influence of life experience, which stores the accumulated stock of representations as material for creating new images. The development of this process is closely related to the individuality of the individual, his upbringing and other mental processes, and the degree of their development (thinking, memory, will). It is very difficult to determine the age limits that characterize the dynamics of the development of the imagination. There are cases in history early development imagination. Mozart composed his first music when he was four years old. But there is a downside to this development. Even if the development of the imagination is belated, this does not mean that in mature years it will not be sufficiently developed. A well-known example of such a development is that of Einstein, who, as a child, did not have a highly developed imagination, but over time he developed it and became a genius recognized throughout the world.

In the formation of the imagination, certain patterns are distinguished, although it is difficult to determine the stages of its development themselves. Because it can happen to each person individually. The first manifestations of the imagination process are very connected with the processes of perception. It is good to give examples on children, because in them the development process takes place more actively and brighter. Children who are one and a half years old do not know how to concentrate their attention on a fairy tale or simple stories, when adults read to them, they are constantly distracted, fall asleep, switch to other activities, but love to hear long stories about themselves. The child loves to listen to stories about himself, his experiences, because he can clearly imagine what the story is about. The relationship of perception and imagination is also observed at the next levels of development. This is noticeable when the child processes his impressions in the game, changing in his imagination objects that were previously perceived. For example, a box in a game becomes a house, a table becomes a cave. The first images of a child always have a connection with his activity. The child embodies the created and processed image into activity, even if this activity is a game.

The development of this process also has a connection with the age of the child, in which he masters speech. With the help of a new education, the child is able to include in the imagination, both concrete images and more abstract ideas. Speech enables the child to switch from presenting images to activities and expressing these images through speech.

When a child masters speech, his practical experience expands, attention develops more, this, in turn, gives the child the opportunity to single out with less zeal individual elements of objects that the child perceives as independent and it is with them that he operates most often in his imagination. Synthesis occurs with significant distortions of reality. Without the necessary experience and a sufficiently developed level of critical thinking, the child is still not able to create such an image that would be close enough to reality. The involuntary emergence of images and ideas appears in the child. Such images are more often formed according to the situation in which he is.

At the next stage, the imagination is supplemented by active forms and becomes arbitrary. Such active forms of this process arose in connection with the active initiative of all adults involved in the development of the child. For example, if adults (parents, educators, teachers) ask a child to do some action, to draw, add, depict something, they encourage him to take a specific action, thereby activating his imagination. To do what the adult asked, the child first needs to create in his imagination an image of what should come out in the end. This process is already arbitrary, because the child is able to control it. A little later, he begins to use arbitrary imagination without the participation of adults. Such a breakthrough in the development of the imagination lies in the very nature of the child's play, which becomes more purposeful and plot-driven. The objects that surround the child become for him not only stimuli for objective activity, but become material in the embodiment of images of the imagination.

When a child is closer to five years old, he begins to build, draw, combine things in accordance with his plan. Another striking shift in the process of forming the imagination is manifested in school age. This is facilitated by perceived information, the need to assimilate educational material. In order to keep up with classmates, the child has to activate his imagination, which, in turn, contributes to the progress of the development of abilities in processing the perceived images into images of the imagination.

Question 46 The role of imagination in solving cognitive and personal problems. The development of the imagination. Imagination and creativity.

Imagination- this is a mental process of creating new images, ideas and thoughts based on existing experience, by restructuring a person's ideas.

Imagination is closely connected with all other cognitive processes and takes special place in human cognitive activity. Thanks to this process, a person can anticipate the course of events, foresee the results of his actions and deeds. It allows you to create programs of behavior in situations characterized by uncertainty.

From a physiological point of view, imagination is the process of the formation of new systems of temporary connections as a result of the complex analytical and synthetic activity of the brain.

In the process of imagination, the systems of temporary nerve connections, as it were, disintegrate and unite into new complexes, groups of nerve cells are connected in a new way.

The physiological mechanisms of imagination are located in the cortex and deeper parts of the brain.

Imagination - this is the process of mental transformation of reality, the ability to build new integral images of reality by processing the content of the existing practical, sensual, intellectual and emotional-semantic experience.

Types of imagination

By subject - emotional, figurative, verbal-logical

According to the methods of activity - active and passive, intentional and unintentional

By the nature of the images - abstract and concrete

According to the results - recreative (mental reproduction of the images of objects that actually exist) and creative (creation of images of objects that do not currently exist).

Types of imagination:

- active - when a person, by an effort of will, causes in himself the corresponding images. Active imagination is a creative, recreative phenomenon. Creative active imagination arises as a result of labor, independently creates images expressed in original and valuable products of activity. This is the basis of any creativity;

- passive - when images arise by themselves, do not depend on desires and will, and do not materialize.

Passive imagination happens:

- involuntary imagination . Most simple form imaginations - those images that arise without special intention and effort on our part (floating clouds, reading an interesting book). Any interesting, fascinating teaching usually causes a vivid involuntary imagination. One of the types of involuntary imagination are dreams . N. M. Sechenov believed that dreams are an unprecedented combination of experienced impressions.

- arbitrary imagination manifests itself in cases where new images or ideas arise as a result of a person’s special intention to imagine something specific, concrete.

Among the various types and forms of arbitrary imagination, one can distinguish recreating imagination, creative imagination and dream. Recreative imagination occurs when a person needs to recreate a representation of an object that corresponds as closely as possible to its description. For example, when reading books, we imagine characters, events, and so on. Creative imagination is characterized by the fact that a person transforms ideas and creates new ones not according to the existing model, but independently outlining the contours of the created image and choosing the necessary materials for it. Creative imagination, as well as recreative one, is closely connected with memory, since in all cases of its manifestation a person uses his previous experience. A dream is a kind of imagination, which consists in the independent creation of new images. At the same time, the dream has a number of differences from the creative imagination. 1) in a dream, a person always recreates the image of what he wants, in a creative one, not always; 2) a dream is a process of imagination that is not included in creative activity, i.e. which does not immediately and directly give an objective product in the form of a work of art, a scientific discovery, etc. 3) the dream is always aimed at future activities, i.e. a dream is an imagination aimed at a desired future.

Imagination functions.

In human life, imagination performs a number of specific functions. First one of them is to represent reality in images and be able to use them when solving problems. This function of imagination is connected with thinking and is organically included in it. Second the function of the imagination is to regulate emotional states. With the help of his imagination, a person is able to at least partially satisfy many needs, to relieve the tension generated by them. This vital function is especially emphasized and developed in psychoanalysis. Third the function of the imagination is associated with its participation in the arbitrary regulation of cognitive processes and human states, in particular, perception, attention, memory, speech, and emotions. With the help of skillfully evoked images, a person can pay attention to the necessary events. Through images, he gets the opportunity to control perception, memories, statements. Fourth the function of the imagination is to form an internal plan of action - the ability to perform them in the mind, manipulating images. Finally, fifth function is the planning and programming of activities, the preparation of such programs, the assessment of their correctness, the implementation process. With the help of imagination, we can control many psycho-physiological states of the body, tune it to the upcoming activity. There are also known facts indicating that with the help of imagination, by a purely volitional way, a person can influence organic processes: change the rhythm of breathing, pulse rate, blood pressure, body temperature.

Imagination carries the following functions (as defined by R. S. Nemov):

- representation of reality in images;

- regulation of emotional states;

Arbitrary regulation of cognitive processes and human states:

- formation of internal action plan;

- planning and programming activities;

- management of psychophysiological state of the body.

The role of imagination in solving cognitive and personal problems.

Imagination is closely related to thinking:

Like thinking, it allows one to foresee the future;

Imagination and thinking arise in a problem situation;

Imagination and thinking are motivated by the needs of the individual;

In the process of activity, imagination appears in unity with thinking;

Imagination is based on the possibility of choosing an image; at the heart of thinking is the possibility of a new combination of concepts.

The main purpose of fantasy is to present an alternative to reality. As such, fantasy serves two main purposes:

It stimulates creativity, allowing you to create something that does not exist (yet), and

It acts as a soul balancing mechanism, offering the individual a means of self-help to achieve emotional balance (self-healing). Fantasy is also used clinically; the results of projective psychological tests and techniques are based on projections of fantasies (as is the case in TAT). In addition, in various psychotherapeutic approaches, fantasy is assigned the role of an exploratory or therapeutic tool.

Development of the imagination

It is very difficult to determine any specific age limits that characterize the dynamics of the development of the imagination. There are examples of extremely early development of the imagination. For example, Mozart began composing music at the age of four, Repin and Serov were good at drawing at the age of six. On the other hand, the late development of the imagination does not mean that this process will be at a low level in more mature years. There are cases in history when great people, such as Einstein, did not have a developed imagination in childhood, but over time they began to talk about them as geniuses.

Despite the complexity of determining the stages of development of a person's imagination, certain patterns in its formation can be distinguished. Thus, the first manifestations of imagination are closely connected with the process of perception. For example, children at the age of one and a half years are not yet able to listen to even the simplest stories or fairy tales, they are constantly distracted or fall asleep, but listen with pleasure to stories about what they themselves have experienced. In this phenomenon, the connection between imagination and perception is quite clearly visible. The child listens to the story of his experiences because he clearly understands what is being said. The connection between perception and imagination is preserved at the next stage of development, when the child in his games begins to process the impressions received, modifying previously perceived objects in his imagination. The chair turns into a cave or an airplane, a box into a car. However, it should be noted that the first images of the child's imagination are always associated with activity. The child does not dream, but embodies the reworked image in his activity, even despite the fact that this activity is a game.

An important stage in the development of imagination is associated with the age when the child masters speech. Speech allows the child to include in the imagination not only specific images, but also more abstract ideas and concepts. Moreover, speech allows the child to move from expressing images of the imagination in activity to their direct expression in speech.

The stage of mastering speech is accompanied by an increase in practical experience and the development of attention, which makes it easier for the child to single out individual parts of the subject, which he already perceives as independent and which he increasingly operates in his imagination. However, the synthesis occurs with significant distortions of reality. Due to the lack of sufficient experience and insufficient critical thinking, the child cannot create an image that is close to reality. The main feature of this stage is the involuntary nature of the emergence of images of the imagination. Most often, images of the imagination are formed in a child given age involuntarily, in accordance with the situation he is in.

The next stage in the development of imagination is associated with the appearance of its active forms. At this stage, the process of imagination becomes arbitrary. The emergence of active forms of imagination is initially associated with a stimulating initiative on the part of an adult. For example, when an adult asks a child to do something (draw a tree, build a house out of blocks, etc.), he activates the process of imagination. In order to fulfill the request of an adult, the child must first create, or recreate, a certain image in his imagination. Moreover, this process of imagination by its nature is already arbitrary, since the child tries to control it. Later, the child begins to use arbitrary imagination without any adult participation. This leap in the development of the imagination finds its reflection, first of all, in the nature of the child's games. They become purposeful and plot-driven. The things surrounding the child become not just stimuli for the development of objective activity, but act as material for the embodiment of images of his imagination. A child at the age of four or five begins to draw, build, sculpt, rearrange things and combine them in accordance with his plan.

Another major shift in imagination occurs during school age. The need to understand the educational material determines the activation of the process of recreating the imagination. In order to assimilate the knowledge that is given at school, the child actively uses his imagination, which causes the progressive development of the ability to process images of perception into images of imagination.

Another reason for the rapid development of imagination in school years is that in the process of learning the child actively receives new and versatile ideas about objects and phenomena. real world. These representations serve as a necessary basis for the imagination and stimulate the creative activity of the student.

The degree of development of the imagination is characterized by the brightness of the images and the depth with which the data of past experience are processed, as well as the novelty and meaningfulness of the results of this processing. The strength and vivacity of the imagination is easily appreciated when the products of the imagination are implausible and bizarre images, for example, in the authors of fairy tales. Weak development of the imagination is expressed in a low level of processing ideas. Weak imagination entails difficulties in solving mental problems that require the ability to visualize a specific situation. With an insufficient level of development of the imagination, a rich and emotionally diverse life is impossible.

Most clearly, people differ in the degree of brightness of images of the imagination. If we assume that there is a corresponding scale, then at one pole there will be people with extremely high indicators of the brightness of the images of the imagination that they experience as a vision, and at the other pole there will be people with extremely pale ideas. As a rule, we meet a high level of development of imagination in people engaged in creative work - writers, artists, musicians, scientists.

Significant differences between people are revealed in relation to the nature of the dominant type of imagination. Most often there are people with a predominance of visual, auditory or motor images of the imagination. But there are people who have a high development of all or most types of imagination. These people can be referred to the so-called mixed type. Belonging to one or another type of imagination is very significantly reflected in the individual psychological characteristics of a person. For example, people of the auditory or motor type very often dramatize the situation in their thoughts, imagining a non-existent opponent.

The development of the imagination in the human race, considered historically, follows the same path as that of the individual. Vico, whose name is well worth mentioning here because he was the first to see the use of myths for the study of the imagination, divided the historical path of mankind into three successive periods: divine or theocratic, heroic or fabulous, human or historical in the proper sense; moreover, after the passage of one such cycle, a new one begins

- vigorous activity (D. in general) stimulates the development of the imagination

Development of various types of creative activity and scientific activity

The use of special techniques for creating new products of the imagination as a solution to problems - agglutination, typing, hyperbolization, schematyping

- agglutination (from lat. agglutinatio - gluing) - a combination of individual parts or various items in one image;

- emphasis, sharpening - underlining in the created image of some detail, highlighting the part;

- hyperbole - displacement of an object, a change in the number of its parts, a decrease or increase in its size;

- schematization - highlighting the characteristic, recurring in homogeneous phenomena and reflecting it in a specific image.

- typing - highlighting the similarity of objects, smoothing their differences;

Active connection of feelings and emotions.

Imagination and creativity.

The leading connection is the dependence of imagination on creativity: imagination is formed in the process of creative activity. The imagination necessary for the transformation of reality and creative activity was formed in the process of this creative activity. The development of the imagination took place as more and more perfect products of the imagination were created.

Imagination plays a particularly important role in scientific and artistic creativity. Creativity without active participation imagination is impossible. The imagination allows the scientist to build hypotheses, mentally represent and play scientific experiments, search for and find non-trivial solutions to problems. Imagination plays important role in the early stages of decision scientific problem and often leads to remarkable insights.

The study of the role of imagination in the processes of scientific and technical creativity is carried out by specialists in the psychology of scientific creativity.

Creativity is closely connected with all mental processes, including imagination. The degree of development of the imagination and its features are no less important for creativity than, say, the degree of development of thinking. The psychology of creativity is manifested in all its specific forms: inventive, scientific, literary, artistic, etc. What factors determine the possibility of human creativity? 1) human knowledge, which is supported by relevant abilities, and stimulated by purposefulness; 2) the presence of certain experiences that create the emotional tone of creative activity.

The English scientist G. Wallace made an attempt to investigate the creative process. As a result, he managed to distinguish 4 stages of the creative process: 1. Preparation (the birth of an idea). 2. Maturation (concentration, "pulling" of knowledge, directly and indirectly). 3. Illumination (intuitive grasp of the desired result). 4. Verification.

Thus, the creative transformation of reality in the imagination obeys its own laws and is carried out in certain ways. New ideas arise on the basis of what was already in the mind, thanks to the operations of synthesis and analysis. Ultimately, the processes of imagination consist in the mental decomposition of the original ideas into component parts (analysis) and their subsequent combination in new combinations (synthesis), i.e. are analytic and synthetic in nature. Consequently, the creative process relies on the same mechanisms that are involved in the formation of ordinary images of the imagination.

Along with perception, memory and thinking Imagination plays an important role in human activity. The ability of the imagination to “run ahead” and to foresee the occurrence of certain events in the future shows the close connection of the imagination with thinking and memory. Like thinking, imagination arises from a problem situation, is motivated by the needs of the individual, and is conditioned by the level of development of social consciousness. Imagination, like thinking, is a cognitive process in which reality is indirectly reflected. Images of perception, representation, memory act here as mediating materials of reflection. Like thinking , imagination is focused on creating new knowledge by processing past experience.

However, unlike thinking the main content of which are concepts that allow you to generalize and indirectly cognize the world, imagination proceeds in a concrete figurative form, in the form of vivid representations. In concrete images created by the imagination, one or another abstract theoretical thought is often revealed. Unlike thinking, which is carried out by operating with concepts and judgments, imagination is carried out by operating with images.

Another distinctive characteristic of the imagination is the possibility of its use in problem situations. high degree uncertainties, when the original data cannot be accurately analyzed.

Emphasizing the connection between thinking and imagination, K. D. Ushinsky said that a strong, active imagination is a necessary property of the mind.

so, imagination is the mental process of creating something new in the form of an image, representation or idea.

Here is another definition - imagination (or fantasy) is a mental process of creating images, including the prediction of the final result of objective activity and ensuring the creation of a behavior program in cases where the problem situation is characterized by uncertainty. (E. I. Rogov)

The essence of imagination is that the old ideas and knowledge about things and phenomena are transformed by him and new images are created on their basis. The intensity of imagination depends on the experience and knowledge of the person.

Imagination arose in the process of labor as a person's foresight of the results of his activity and developed in labor, especially creative labor.

The originality of imagination as a form of reflection of reality is as follows:

1. Imagination is a mental way beyond what is directly perceived by a person.

2. Imagination contributes to the anticipation of the future.

3. Imagination "revives" what was before.

The main significance of imagination is that without it any human labor would be impossible, since it is impossible to work without imagining the intermediate and final results.

In this way, the process of imagination is peculiar only to man and is necessary condition his work activity. Imagination is always directed to the practical activity of man. A person, before doing something, imagines what needs to be done and how he will do it. Thus, he already creates an image of a material thing in advance, which will be produced in the subsequent practical activity of a person. This ability of a person to imagine in advance the final result of his work, as well as the process of creating a material thing, sharply distinguishes human activity from the "activity" of animals, sometimes very skillful.

The physiological basis of imagination is the actualization of neural connections, their disintegration, regrouping and integration into new systems. Thus, images arise that do not coincide with previous experience, but are not divorced from it either. The complexity, unpredictability of the imagination, its connection with emotions suggest that its physiological mechanisms are located not only in the cortex, but also in deeper regions of the brain. In particular, the hypothalamic-limbic system plays an important role here. At the same time, the images that arise in the brain have a regulatory effect on peripheral processes, changing their functioning.

In this regard, of all mental processes, imagination is most closely connected with organic processes and allows you to influence them (increased heart rate, change in breathing, blanching of the face, dilated pupils, manifestations of various diseases, etc.). At the same time, the conscious use of images of the imagination allows you to control organic processes, makes them available for training and development (self-hypnosis based on the creation of images, including the work of internal organs, parts of your own body, etc.).

Imagination functions.

1. Representation in the psyche of reality in images- in the internal mental plan, the surrounding reality is reflected in the form of appropriate images; at the same time, to designate images of phenomena that a person perceived earlier, they use the concept of "representation", and in situations where we are talking about transformative activity and the creation of new ideas on its basis, they use the concept of "imagination";

2. Regulation of activity and behavior- thanks to the imagination, a person, faced with a problematic situation, first builds an ideal plan for an e-resolution program, an image of the desired result on the basis of this, and then carries out practical actions;

3. emotional state management, emotions and physiological processes in psychological technologies various types. In particular, in: psychoanalysis - for the formation of "health legends" in the interests of clients based on imaginary images; psycho-correction erroneous actions during professional activities; autotraining- to relieve mental tension, pain, to remove the heart rate, etc.; psychotherapy- to cure mental disorders through images formed by the client under the guidance of a teacher; videomotor- to excite the physiological response to the psychological state caused by the imagination.

The main ways the imagination arises. The analytic-synthetic nature of the imagination is most clearly manifested in the reception agglutination(translated from Greek "gluing"). Agglutination is a combination, a fusion of individual elements or parts of individual objects into one image. For example: the image of a mermaid, a centaur, a sphinx, a hut on chicken legs, etc. Agglutination is also used in technical creativity. With the help of this technique, a trolleybus, snowmobile, anfibia tank, seaplane, accordion, etc. were created.

Analytical the process of creating images can also be considered accentuation, which consists in the fact that in the image being created, any part, detail is highlighted and especially emphasized, for example, changing in size and making the object disproportionate. Emphasizing allows you to highlight the most essential, the most important in this particular image. This technique is often used by cartoonists.

The technique for creating images of the imagination is hyperbolization- an increase or decrease in the object compared to reality, a change in individual parts of the object, their displacement. This approach is used in folk tales, epics (giants, midgets, multi-armed Buddha in Indian religion, multi-headed dragons).

Construction representations of the imagination can also follow a synthetic path. In the event that the ideas from which a fantastic image is created merge, the differences are smoothed out, and similarities come to the fore, then they speak of schematization (national ornaments and patterns, the elements of which are borrowed from the outside world). Every person can easily imagine a Chinese, an Englishman, etc. These images live in our imagination in the form of generalized schemes.

A more complex technique is typification - the process of decomposition and connection, as a result of which a certain image appears (of a person, his deeds, relationships). In the image, the artist usually seeks to convey a certain, more or less conscious idea. In accordance with this plan, certain features are emphasized.

Modern psychology distinguishes the following kinds imagination.

Depending on the degree of severity of activity, there are 2 types of imagination: passive and active.

Depending on volitional efforts, passive imagination can be either intentional or unintentional.

passive imagination characterized by the creation of images that are not subsequently embodied in practical deeds, activities. Created images that replace real life activities are called fantasies, dreams. . They are examples of deliberate (arbitrary) passive imagination, consciously caused, but not connected with the will of a person. People tend to dream about pleasant, tempting things. The predominance of dreams in the mental life of a person can lead him to a separation from reality, to escape into a fictional world, which in turn begins to slow down the mental and social development of this person.

Unintentional (involuntary) passive imagination is the spontaneous creation of new images. It occurs when the activity of consciousness is weakened, its disorders, in a semi-drowsy state, in sleep, etc. The most revealing manifestation of passive imagination are hallucinations, in which a person perceives non-existent objects. As a rule, hallucinations are observed in some mental disorders.

An extreme case of involuntary work of the imagination are dreams, in which images are born unintentionally and in the most unexpected and bizarre combinations. At its core, the activity of the imagination is also involuntary, unfolding in a half-asleep, drowsy state, for example, before falling asleep.

active imagination- imagination associated with the implementation of specific practical activities. Starting to do something, we present an image of the result, methods of activity, etc. Active imagination is directed more outward, a person is mainly occupied with the environment, society, activities and less with internal subjective problems. Active imagination, finally, is awakened by the task and directed by it, it is determined by volitional efforts and lends itself to volitional control. Active imagination includes artistic, creative, critical, recreating etc. Close to these types of imagination is empathy- the ability to understand another person, to be imbued with his thoughts and feelings, to sympathize, to rejoice with him, to empathize.

Arbitrary imagination has much for a person greater value. This type manifests itself when a person is faced with the task of creating certain images, outlined by him or given to him from outside. In these cases, the process of imagination is controlled and directed by the person himself. The basis of such work of the imagination is the ability to arbitrarily call up and change the necessary ideas.

Among various kinds and forms of arbitrary imagination distinguish recreative imagination, productive (creative) imagination and dream.

Recreating imagination manifests itself when a person needs to recreate a representation of an object that corresponds as fully as possible to its description. This kind of imagination is encountered when one reads descriptions of geographical places or historical events, and also when one reads descriptions of literary characters. So, reading the description of the Battle of Poltava, made by A. S. Pushkin, one can clearly imagine the peals of gun shots, the cries of soldiers, the sound of drums, the smell of gunpowder.

creative imagination- this is the creation of new images without relying on a ready-made description or conditional image. This is the independent creation of new images (writing a novel, a piece of music, etc.). Creative imagination is a type of imagination during which a person independently creates new images and ideas that are of value to other people or society as a whole and which are embodied (“crystallized”) into specific original products of activity. Creative imagination is a necessary component and basis of all types of human creative activity.

A kind of creative imagination is a dream- creating images of the desired future. It is directed to the sphere of a more or less distant future and does not imply the immediate achievement of a real result, as well as its complete coincidence with the image of the desired one. At the same time, a dream can become a strong motivating factor in creative search. Unlike dreams (deliberate passive imagination not connected with the will), a dream is always active and acts as an incentive, a motive for activity, the result of which for some reason turned out to be delayed.