Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them
Children who invent companions know exactly what they are doing, and the research says it is a skill, not a symptom.
Taylor took a phenomenon parents notice and worry about, and put it under proper experimental scrutiny. Children with imaginary companions are not lonelier, stranger or more confused than other children, and they know perfectly well that the companion is invented, however vivid it is. What the research found instead was a link to social understanding. The book is a model of how developmental psychology can answer a question people actually ask.
Recommended by 1 Person
Alison Gopnik
This is a book by one of the people who has been part of the new wave of research in cognitive development. What Marjorie did is to deal with a really fascinating phenomenon that all parents notice, which is the fact that children often have these imaginary friends who are very vivid and significant.
Interview · August 2012
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