Upcoming...
RSS Twitter iCal - Members: Login or Register Search

November 18, 2006, 2:30 PM

Imaginary Companions

Roundtable
Participants: Edith Ackermann, Paul Bloom, Ruth Fischer, Marcel Kinsbourne, Dorothy Singer, Marjorie Taylor (moderator)
 
 
 

During the preschool years, many children invent imaginary people and animals that become regular companions and play partners. Children's ability and inclination to create imaginary companions (often with detailed histories and idiosyncratic characteristics) and their emotional investment in these companions raise many questions about the functions of this type of play and what it reveals about the developing mind. In this roundtable, the significance of children's imaginary companions is discussed from the perspectives of developmental psychology, neuroscience, and child psychoanalysis.

Edith Ackermann is Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Aix-Marseille, France. She is a Visiting Scientist at the M.I.T. School of Architecture Center for Advanced Visual Studies. In addition to teaching graduate students and conducting research, she consults for companies and institutions interested in the intersection between learning, teaching, design, and digital technologies.

Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at Yale University. He is an internationally recognized expert on language and development and, with Steven Pinker, coauthored one of the seminal papers in the field. Bloom is the author of How Children Learn the Meanings of Words and Descarte's Baby: How the Science of Child Development Explains What Makes Us Human.

Ruth Fischer is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Marcel Kinsbourne is a behavioral neurologist and Professor of Psychology at the New School. He is the author of The Asymmetrical Function of the Brain, The Unity and the Diversity of the Human Brain, and Consciousness: The Brain's Private Psychological Field.

Dorothy Singer is Senior Research Scientist Emeritus at Yale University. She is the author, with Jerome Singer, of several books, including The House of Make Believe and Imagination in the Electronic Age.

Marjorie Taylor is Professor and Head of Psychology at the University of Oregon. She is the author of Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them.

 

Edited Transcript

PDF Version
Word Version

 

Discussion Board

This forum allows for an ongoing discussion of the above Philoctetes event. You may use this space to share your thoughts or to pose questions for panelists. An attempt will be made to address questions during the live event or as part of a continued online dialogue.

Post a Comment

(URLs will display as links.)
If you are a Philoctetes subscriber, please log in below to post to our event discussions. Or sign up now for a free subscription so you can post to our discussions and optionally receive our email announcements and our bi-monthly newsletter.
E-mail Address:
Password: (Forgot your password?)
Login

 

Loading...Loading