Exploring Imagination according to Vygotsky

1. Exploring Imagination according to Vygotsky Maria Hotovy & Sarah Lechner

2. Background . . . • From Russia: 1896-1934 • Familiar with Gesell, Werner and Piaget • Discussed both developmental and environmental forces • Marxist, understand humans as a social-historical environment • Psychological tool • “Natural” line in addition to “cultural” line

3. Necessity of Imagination • If world of complete equilibrium • Adapt to environment • Lack of adapting • Inventors

4. Fantasy • Usual definition: False • Rooted in reality… • Impossible for representation have no relation to reality • Fantasy must not succeed reality • Fantasy awareness

5. Defining Imagination • Everything one knows • One Cause: Sublimation • Drawing • Development

6. Types of Imagination • Reproductive • Combinatorial • Emotional • Social-Historical

7. Imagination in Children • Children vs. Adults? • Exact account impossible • Story read with details omitted • Child’s play very telling • If want strong foundation

8. Experiment • Objective: to test Vygotsky’s theory that all imagination stems from previous images and experiences • Three girls and three boys, between the ages of 6 and 7 were observed • They were given pencils, crayons, and paper to complete the activity

9. Procedure • Children that participated in this activity were first asked to write down, in 30 seconds, all the animals they could think of • Because, according to Vygotsky, imagination is based on previous knowledge, it was important to have an understanding of the child’s knowledge of animals

10. Procedure • The child was then asked if they have ever had a pet • If the answer was “yes”, the child was asked the name and type of pet • The student was then read the following scenario: • “One day you get lost in a part of the city you’ve never seen before. It starts raining so you walk into the nearest building, which happens to be a pet store. But this pet store is very unusual; with animals and creatures you’ve never seen or heard of. One of these animals catches your eye and you buy it. After naming it, you try to take your strange new pet on its first walk.”

11. Procedure • Given this scenario, the child was asked to draw a picture of their ideal pet, what it would look and act like • They were given 3 minutes to do so • They then turned over the paper and were asked to write a short description of what their first day with their pet is like • They were given 3 minutes to do so

12. Results

13. Female: 6 Has: Dog & 2 Cats Known Animals: Cat, Bat, Hors(e), Unicorn “My little pet wanted to go on a wok (walk) she was so hungry we got grass. We go hom(e).”

14. Male: 7 Has: Dog Known: Lizard, Snake, Dragon “He likes to go to the museum and look at the time of the dinos and dragons”

17. Problems • All six children talked during the procedure, and may have influenced the other children with their choice of animal and what it looked like • Ages of children may have been too young, they still had to sound out words while they were writing whereas older children could have given a better description • Children may have needed more time to draw and write the description • Imagination is not a concrete thing that can be compared • Time restraint (ask and point)

18. Conclusion • Vygotsky’s theory that “every aspect of fantasy is rooted in reality without exception” proved to be true • After analyzing the images and descriptions of each child compared to their previous knowledge, we discovered that there is often links between the two

19. Works Cited • Crain, William C. Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1980. Print. • Vygotskiĭ, L S, Vassily Davidov, and Robert J. Silverman. Educational Psychology. Boca Raton, Fla: St. Lucie Press, 1997. Print. • http://lchc.ucsd.edu/mca/Mail/xmcamail.2008_03.dir/att-0189/Vygotsky__Imag___Creat_in_Childhood.pdf