Imagination in Psychology

Reading about scientific discoveries, we are amazed: "How could he (she) have thought of such a thing?" All the blame for the imagination of the scientist, who was directed to the right track, at any rate, is the man's view of the problem. I wonder what role psychology assigns to the imagination, because in the eyes of this science the familiar things are revealed from a different angle.

Functions of the imagination in psychology

The ability to create something completely new from the existing images and knowledge is necessary for man, without it the process of cognition would be impossible. Therefore, the concept of imagination in psychology is closely associated with thinking, memory and perception, which are also part of cognition. The creation of mental images precedes the outcome of each activity, becoming an incentive to the creative process. But the functions of the imagination, not only in this, for example, in psychology, allocate as many as five tasks.

1. To solve practical problems (pragmatic).
2. For the regulation of emotions, physiological states and mental processes (psychotherapeutic). For example, to all the known placebo effect, is a vivid illustration of this function of the imagination.
3. Regulation of memory, attention, speech and other means of cognition (cognitive). We often say the words in our mind before they say it, and trying to remember a fact, we try to recreate our feelings when we first learned about this event (smells, emotions, conversations, sounds, etc.).
4. Activity planning.
5. Forming images and manipulating them in the mind to program different situations.

But this amazing phenomenon can be distinguished not only by the functions performed, there are also various kinds of imagination. Passive creation of images includes visions, dreams (consciously evoked images) and dreams (planned future). And most of all in psychology of interest are active modes of imagination, among which the creative takes not the last place. This is understandable, it is thanks to this kind of fantasy that we can enjoy works of art and use scientific discoveries.

Creative imagination in psychology

This type of fantasy allows you to create new images for later implementation. It is customary to distinguish between objective and subjective novelty. In the first case, the idea should be absolutely original, not based on anyone's experience, the second case implies the repetition of previously created images, they are original only for this person.

The mental representation of images (imagination) and thinking in psychology are closely intertwined. Moreover, there are cases when creative imagination supersedes logical thinking. This is explained quite simply - logic helps us to open all available links, to establish the true state of things. That is, using logical thinking, we "squeeze" out of objects and phenomena a maximum of information. But everything develops in this way only in the presence of the necessary knowledge or the possibility of obtaining them by logical calculations. When information is not enough and they can not be obtained by objective reasoning, creative imagination and intuition come to the rescue. With their help, the missing links are created, which help to link all the facts into a single whole. This system operates until there are real connections that help to logically explain the reality. Such creative role of imagination makes it necessary in any profession. Although, of course, the physicist will resort to the "halls of the mind" somewhat less often than the writer.