Imagination functions

Surrounding reality, unfortunately, is not always friendly, so it is natural for a person to dream, protecting himself from excessive feelings. But this is only a special case, in fact, the kinds of imagination and its functions are much greater. Therefore, this phenomenon is more common than it may seem at first.

Types of imagination

It is interesting that imagination, being a special form of the psyche, lies between thinking and perception, while remaining completely separate from the other processes. It should be noted that imagination is absolutely necessary phenomenon, not only that all cultural achievements are the result of this process, so it is also very closely related to thinking and cognition. The latter without imagination in general could not have been (without the creation of mental images nothing will be learned), and the connection with logical thinking is especially interesting. At a time when logic is powerless, a person turns on the imagination, which helps to complete the missing details. There are these fictional elements before the discovery of true connections, so imagination is the stimulus of logical thinking. But, before continuing the conversation about the role of this process, it is necessary to understand the types of imagination, and then it is possible and to explain its basic functions to proceed.

It is accepted to distinguish 6 main types of this phenomenon.

1. Active imagination is characterized by the conscious formation of mental images.
2. Passive imagination - here the will of a person does not play a decisive role in the creation of images, they appear spontaneously, which is called without warning.
3. Reproductive imagination . By the name it is clear that this process is recreating, or more precisely, creating an image for any description. For example, this is how we create portraits of literary heroes in our minds. Such imagination is very closely connected with memory and perception, but it does not resemble creativity .
4. The productive imagination , on the contrary, is exclusively creative. Here, a person quite intelligently constructs original images, and novelty can be personal (only for oneself) or absolute (for all).
5. Concrete - images are extremely specific with a lot of details, but such ideas can not be massive. Distinguish taste, visual, olfactory, tactile, motor and auditory.
6. Abstract imagination - large schemes are created, large-scale ideas, but details are not drawn here.

The basic functions of the imagination in psychology

As already mentioned above, the process of creating mental images is extremely important in human life, and in more detail this can explain the functions of the imagination, which are 5.

1. The ability to mentally represent reality for solving very specific problems.
2. Regulation of emotional states. We all use this function when we need to calm down (or come to an excited state) by presenting the appropriate pictures.
3. Arbitrary regulation of the processes of cognition. Everyone is able to manage memories, with proper training and physiological states.
4. The ability of mental manipulation created images, producing a short-term plan of action.
5. Long-term planning of their lives, with detailed programming of activities, as well as subsequent assessment of the correctness of their actions.

Having become acquainted with the functions and types of imagination, it becomes clear that its development is required not only for people of creative professions, investigators and scientists without this quality would have to be very difficult.