Key point: Pretend play can lead to building of flexible thinking and emotional strengths. Great for young children - the researchers studied kids aged 2 to 7 - but it strikes me that if adults spent more time playing and using their imaginations they, too, would benefit! (Possibly in the same ways, and perhaps others.) I fear that too many “grownups” sideline play and creativity. Fortunately. this is modifiable!
Thanks, Scott, for sharing the roundup of research studies.
Great round-up! #9 is my absolute favorite. I think the benefits of imaginary play and creative visualization are fascinating for children and adults alike. I'd love to see more research on this. I have seen some interesting studies on the benefits of having imaginary friends in childhood (guilty!), but as you mentioned, those focused on empathy and emotional regulation. Given my focus on flow, I can't help but wonder if the long-term benefits of imaginary play may also have had something to do with the flow states the toddlers could have experienced during imaginary play. As a mom, it's always been so rewarding to see how "locked in" young kids get when they are deep imaginary play, or creating something in their imagination that they are then manifesting in physical form, like when drawing, writing a story, or creating something with their toys. Like most high-flow experiences, I remember my own imaginary play sessions being some of my happiest times as a child. This research hints at yet another thing I love about flow--it helps us learn and integrate those learnings, blocking out outer influences so we can more easily access our own wisdom/intelligence/intuition and make that knowledge usable in the future.
I’m struck by these low numbers of heritability — barely above 50%. So where are all the studies controlling for different philosophical worldviews (the part of us shaped by our environments) compared to merely controlling for different genetic demographics? The environment is where I’d expect to see profound differences (with meaningful interventions) in the two studies I was most skeptical of: the one about moral consistency and the one about meaningful parenthood. As someone who has opted to be child free and spend a lot of my life developing philosophical memes to pass on through humanity’s culture, I’d expect to score wildly differently on these than all the rest of my biologically close family members from rural Pennsylvania.
Great round up, Scott! Thanks for sharing!
Key point: Pretend play can lead to building of flexible thinking and emotional strengths. Great for young children - the researchers studied kids aged 2 to 7 - but it strikes me that if adults spent more time playing and using their imaginations they, too, would benefit! (Possibly in the same ways, and perhaps others.) I fear that too many “grownups” sideline play and creativity. Fortunately. this is modifiable!
Thanks, Scott, for sharing the roundup of research studies.
Great round-up! #9 is my absolute favorite. I think the benefits of imaginary play and creative visualization are fascinating for children and adults alike. I'd love to see more research on this. I have seen some interesting studies on the benefits of having imaginary friends in childhood (guilty!), but as you mentioned, those focused on empathy and emotional regulation. Given my focus on flow, I can't help but wonder if the long-term benefits of imaginary play may also have had something to do with the flow states the toddlers could have experienced during imaginary play. As a mom, it's always been so rewarding to see how "locked in" young kids get when they are deep imaginary play, or creating something in their imagination that they are then manifesting in physical form, like when drawing, writing a story, or creating something with their toys. Like most high-flow experiences, I remember my own imaginary play sessions being some of my happiest times as a child. This research hints at yet another thing I love about flow--it helps us learn and integrate those learnings, blocking out outer influences so we can more easily access our own wisdom/intelligence/intuition and make that knowledge usable in the future.
Merci infiniment pour ce petit résumé très intéressant ! Je vais piocher dedans !
I’m struck by these low numbers of heritability — barely above 50%. So where are all the studies controlling for different philosophical worldviews (the part of us shaped by our environments) compared to merely controlling for different genetic demographics? The environment is where I’d expect to see profound differences (with meaningful interventions) in the two studies I was most skeptical of: the one about moral consistency and the one about meaningful parenthood. As someone who has opted to be child free and spend a lot of my life developing philosophical memes to pass on through humanity’s culture, I’d expect to score wildly differently on these than all the rest of my biologically close family members from rural Pennsylvania.