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Imagination

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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

Synonyms

Absorption; Daydreaming; Fantasy; Mental imagery; Visualization

Definition

Imagination refers to creating mental representations of concepts, ideas, and sensations in the mind that are not contemporaneously perceived by the senses. Imagination ranges from the re-creation of images or sensory perceptions in the mind that were previously seen or experienced in reality (i.e., reproductive imagination) to crafting images anew independent of prior actual sensory input (i.e., productive imagination).

Introduction

Imagination is both a cognitive process and a trait dimension of individual differences. With regards to the cognitive process, the functions of imagination range from filling the gaps in our perception of the world around us to taking other people’s perspective to forecasting future outcomes for ourselves as well as others. When viewing imagination as a trait dimension of individual differences, all the cognitive process functions are considered, although the focus is on...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, SE14 6NW, London, UK

    Hannah Rachel Scott & Sophie von Stumm

Authors
  1. Hannah Rachel Scott
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  2. Sophie von Stumm
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hannah Rachel Scott .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA

    Charlie Reeve

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Scott, H.R., von Stumm, S. (2017). Imagination. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_2279-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_2279-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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