a person’s ability to construct new images by processing mental components acquired in past experience; the mental process of creating an image of an object or situation by restructuring existing ideas. Part of the individual’s consciousness, one of the cognitive processes, characterized by a high degree of clarity and specificity. In the imagination, the external world is reflected in a unique and original way; there is a figurative anticipation of the results that can be achieved through certain actions; it allows you to program not only future behavior, but also to imagine the possible conditions under which this behavior will be realized. One of the sources of imagination development, where it acquires communicative qualities, is the play of preschoolers. Imagination is expressed:

1) in constructing the image of the means and the final result of the activity of the subject subject;

2) in creating a behavior program when the problem situation is uncertain;

3) in the production of images, which do not program, but replace activity;

4) in creating images that correspond to the description of the object. It is traditionally viewed as an independent process, but some authors tend to identify it with either thinking or representation. The most important importance of imagination is that it allows you to imagine the result of work before it begins, thereby orienting a person in the process of activity. Using the imagination, creating a model of the final or intermediate product of labor contributes to its substantive embodiment. The fundamental difference between human labor and the instinctive behavior of animals is the representation of the expected result using the imagination. It is included in any labor process, any creative activity. During activity, imagination appears in unity with thinking. The inclusion of imagination or thinking in the process of activity is determined by the degree of uncertainty of the problem situation, the completeness or deficiency of information contained in the initial data of the task. If the initial data are known, then the course of solving the problem obeys primarily the laws of thinking; if the data is difficult to analyze, then the mechanisms of imagination operate. Often a problem can be solved using both imagination and thinking. The value of imagination is that it allows you to make a decision in the absence of the proper completeness of knowledge required to complete the task; But at the same time, the ways to solve the problem are often not precise enough, they are not strict, which shows the limitations of the imagination. It is usually believed that the imagination operates with ideas and does not extend to the content expressed by abstract concepts. But recently a different approach has emerged - the presentation of imagination as a combination of not only figurative, but also abstract content. It is customary to distinguish between two types of imagination - recreative and creative imagination. This division is partly relative, since each of these types contains elements of the other. The leading mechanism of creative imagination, in which the goal is the creation of a new, non-existent object, is the process of introducing a certain property of objects from another area. Also different:

1) voluntary imagination - manifested in the purposeful solution of scientific, technical and artistic problems;

2) involuntary imagination - manifested in dreams, in meditative images. The processes of imagination, like thinking, memory and perception, are of an analytical-synthetic nature. The main tendency of the imagination is the transformation of memory representations, which ultimately ensures the creation of an obviously new, previously never encountered situation. The essence of imagination, if we talk about its mechanisms, is the transformation of ideas, the creation of new images based on existing ones. Imagination is a reflection of reality in new, unusual, unexpected combinations and connections. The synthesis of ideas in the processes of imagination is realized in various forms:

1) agglutination - the combination of qualities, properties, parts of objects that are not connected in reality;

2) hyperbolization, or emphasis - increasing or decreasing the subject, changing the quality of its parts;

3) sharpening - emphasizing certain features;

4) schematization - smoothing out the differences between objects and identifying similarities between them;

5) typification - highlighting the essential, repeating in homogeneous phenomena and embodying it in a specific image. The degree of activity varies:

1) passive imagination;

2) active imagination. The process of imagination is not always immediately realized in practical actions. Often imagination takes the form of a special internal activity, which consists in creating an image of the desired future - in dreaming. A dream is a necessary condition for the transformation of reality, a motivating reason, a motive for activity, the final completion of which was delayed. A synonym for imagination is fantasy.

IMAGINATION

fantasy) (English imagination) - a universal human ability to construct new holistic images of reality by processing the content of existing practical, sensory, intellectual and emotional-semantic experience. V. is a way for a person to master the sphere of a possible future, giving his activity a goal-setting and project-based character, thanks to which he stood out from the “kingdom” of animals. Being the psychological basis of creativity, culture ensures both the historical creation of cultural forms and their development in ontogenesis.

In psychology, there is a tradition of considering perception as a separate mental process along with perception, memory, attention, etc. Recently, the understanding of perception as a universal property of consciousness (coming from I. Kant) has become increasingly widespread. At the same time, its key function in generating and structuring the image of the world is emphasized. V. determines the course of specific cognitive, emotional, and other processes, constituting their creative nature associated with the transformation of objects (in figurative and semantic terms), anticipation of the results of corresponding actions (see Anticipation) and the construction of general schemes of the latter. This finds its manifestation in the phenomena of “emotional anticipation” (A. V. Zaporozhets), “productive perception” (V. P. Zinchenko), in the genesis of certain forms of motor activity (Ya. A. Bernstein), etc.

V. is the figurative construction of the content of a concept about an object (or the design of a scheme of actions with it) even before this concept itself is formed (and the scheme receives a clear, verifiable and implemented expression in specific material). The content of a future thought (the method of its construction, specified through a scheme of actions) is fixed by V. in the form of some significant, general trend in the development of an integral object. A person can comprehend this tendency as a genetic pattern only through thinking.

What is characteristic of V. is that knowledge has not yet formed into a logical category, while a peculiar correlation of the universal and the individual at the sensory level has already been made. Thanks to this, in the very act of contemplation, a separate fact is revealed in its universal perspective, revealing a holistic meaning in relation to a certain situation. Therefore, in the V. plan, a holistic image of the situation is built before a dismembered and detailed picture of the components of what is being contemplated. The components of this image are meaningfully connected to each other by the bonds of a necessary connection essentially, and not formally (this method of connecting them is already inherent in myths and fairy tales; in ontogenesis it is found in preschool children). As a result, these components acquire a new qualitative definition in consciousness. Thus, V. is neither an arbitrary endowment of an object with any properties, nor a simple combinatorics of elements of past experience. One of the paradoxes of V. is that the objective whole is reproduced by him from the very beginning adequately, in fact flawlessly. In the history of philosophy and psychology, this has repeatedly given rise to his mystification.

The leading mechanism of V. is the transfer of blood cells. object properties. The heuristic nature of transfer is measured by the extent to which it contributes to the disclosure of the specific integral nature of another object in the process of its cognition or creation by a person. The operational and technical basis of such a transfer is the symbolic function.

In psychology, a distinction is made between voluntary and involuntary V. The 1st manifests itself, for example, in the course of purposefully solving scientific, technical and artistic problems in the presence of a conscious and reflected search dominant, the 2nd - in dreams, the so-called. altered states of consciousness, etc.

Sometimes they also distinguish between recreating and creative V. It is more expedient to attribute images of “recreating” V. to the sphere of flexible and dynamic reproductive representations (see Representations of Memory), taking into account the fact that the creative nature is inherent in V. as such.

A dream forms a special form of V. It is addressed to the sphere of a more or less distant future and does not imply the immediate achievement of a real result, as well as its complete coincidence with the desired image. At the same time, a dream can become a strong motivating factor in creative search.

V. is included in the processes of a wide variety of human activities. However, in its developed form, it is cultivated primarily through the means of art - in the course of creating and mastering products of artistic creativity. The ontogenetic preconditions of V. are rooted in certain types of orienting activities of infants and young children. One of the leading sources of its development in childhood is the play of preschoolers; thanks to it, the ability to look at the world as if through the eyes of another person is developed, which, according to a number of researchers (E.V. Ilyenkov, V.V. Davydov, etc.), is one of the fundamental characteristics of V. (V.T. Kudryavtsev .)

IMAGINATION

In its most comprehensive sense, the term refers to the entire process of imagery. Often it is used only in relation to the real images themselves. The very question of what exactly is meant by such terms as image and imagination is the most difficult; see image.

IMAGINATION

The process of restructuring memory images from past experiences and previously formed images into new constructions. See image (4 (b)). This term is used in specialized literature, often in the same way as in general language. That is, imagination is seen as creative and constructive, it can be largely determined by desire or largely limited by reality, it can include plans and projects for the future or represent mental “reviews” of the past. Qualifications are often added for clarity; for example, anticipatory to denote imagination about the future, reproductive in relation to the past, creative in relation to the new, etc.

IMAGINATION

En.: Imagination

The gift of imagination corresponds to the ability to function hypnotically (see: absorption). The act of imagination is both the cause and effect of hypnosis

In addition, this is the reason for hypnotic effects: the very fact of imagining your body as heavy or light (see: relaxation) allows you to change muscle tone and the tone of peripheral vessels; this is true for other physiological changes as well.

From the point of view of psychotherapy, the evocation and manipulation of images during hypnosis is the basis of symbolic work and provides the opportunity for deep ordering.

In traumatic neurosis, playing with images is a means of reprocessing traumatic experiences (Reitter, 1990).

We define hypnosis as the culture of certain psychophysiological phenomena that generally go beyond the usual immersion in the realm of imagination. Let us recall the phrase of Mesmer’s contemporary and friend: “If Mesmer had no other secrets except the ability to use the imagination for the benefit of health, isn’t this alone a wonderful gift? If imaginative medicine is the best medicine, then isn’t that what we should be doing?” (DEslon, 1784).

Imagination

a person’s ability to construct new images by processing mental components acquired in past experience. In the imagination, there is a figurative anticipation of the results that can be achieved with the help of certain actions. Imagination is characterized by a high degree of clarity and specificity. The leading mechanism of creative imagination, in which the goal is to create a new, non-existent object, is the process of introducing some property of objects from another area. There is a distinction between voluntary imagination, which manifests itself in the purposeful solution of scientific, technical and artistic problems, and involuntary imagination, which manifests itself in dreams and meditative images. One of the sources of imagination development, in which it acquires communicative qualities, is the play of preschoolers.

IMAGINATION

a mental process consisting in the creation of new images by processing the material of perceptions, ideas, concepts obtained in previous experience; the term “fantasy” is used as a synonym for V.

Imagination

the creation of new images by processing the material of perceptions and ideas received by the subject in previous experience. Wed. expressions rich imagination, poor imagination.

...Startsev waited, and as if the moonlight was fueling passion in him, he waited passionately and pictured kisses and hugs in his imagination (A. Chekhov, Ionych).

And suddenly a bright thought flashed through Tema’s head: why shouldn’t he die?! He even felt somehow amused at the thought of what effect this would have. Suddenly they come, and he lies dead... Of course, he is to blame... but he will die and this will completely atone for his guilt. And, of course, both father and mother will understand this, and this will be a great reproach for them! (N. Garin-Mikhailovsky, Childhood Themes).

And he imagined how he was brought home from the river, dead, his hair completely wet... And so she throws herself on his body, her tears flow like a river, her lips pray to God to return her boy to her, whom she will never, never offend again! But he lies before her, cold and pale, showing no signs of life - a poor little sufferer who has drunk the cup of sorrow to the end! Tom became so emotional, imagining these sad pictures, that he could hardly restrain himself from sobbing (M. Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer).

Wed. dream, fantasy.

Imagination

the process of transforming previous experiences into new mental structures in accordance with the needs of the individual. According to L.S. Vygotsky, imagination is the ability of an individual “to create new combinations of them from known elements of experience under the influence of emotions.” From the same material people create both great discoveries and masterpieces and crude, terrifying, monstrous things. As the Russian proverb accurately says on this matter, “an icon and a shovel are made from the same tree.” See Fantasy.

Imagination

creative activity based on the combining ability of our brain, psychology calls imagination or fantasy. In everyday life, imagination or fantasy is called everything that is unreal, that does not correspond to reality and that, thus, cannot have any practical serious meaning. In fact, imagination, as the basis of all creative activity, is equally manifested in all aspects of cultural life, making artistic, scientific and technical creativity possible. (11.1, 5) we will try to show all four main forms that connect the activity of imagination with reality. The first form of connection is that any creation of the imagination is always built from elements taken from reality and contained in a person’s previous experience. The second form of connection is a more complex connection between the finished product of fantasy and some complex phenomenon of reality. This form of connection becomes possible only through the experience of others or social experience. The third form of connection is emotional connection. This connection manifests itself in two ways. On the one hand, every feeling, every emotion strives to be embodied in certain images that correspond to this feeling. However, there is also a feedback connection between the imagination and emotion; every construction of fantasy back affects our feelings, and even if this construction does not correspond to reality in itself, then everything the feeling it evokes is real, actually experienced. The essence of the latter (form of connection) lies in the fact that the construction of a fantasy can represent something essentially new, which has not been in human experience and does not correspond to any really existing object; however, being embodied outside, having taken on material embodiment, this “crystallized” imagination, having become a thing, begins to really exist in the world and influence other things. Such imagination becomes reality. (11.1, 8 – 16) The first and most important law to which the activity of the imagination is subject: the creative activity of the imagination is directly dependent on the richness and diversity of a person’s previous experience, because this experience represents the material from which fantasy structures are created. (11.1, 10) Examples of crystallized, or embodied, imagination can be any technical device, machine or tool; in its development it described a circle. The elements from which they are built were taken by man from reality. Inside a person, in his thinking, they underwent complex processing and turned into products of the imagination. Having finally incarnated, they returned to reality again, but they returned as a new active force, changing this reality. This is the full circle of the creative activity of the imagination. (11.1, 16) At this time (adolescence, adolescence), two main types of imagination appear clearly: plastic and emotional, or external and internal imagination. These two main types are characterized mainly by the material from which fantasy constructions are created and the laws of this construction. The plastic imagination uses primarily the data of external impressions; it builds from elements borrowed from the outside; the emotional, on the contrary, builds from elements taken from within. We can call one of them objective, and the other subjective. The manifestation of both types of imagination and their gradual differentiation are characteristic of this particular age. (11.1, 30 – 31) Imagination is usually presented as an exclusively internal activity, independent of external conditions or, at best, dependent on these conditions on one side precisely insofar as these conditions determine the material on which the imagination works. The very processes of imagination, its direction at first glance seem to be guided only from within by the feelings and needs of the person himself and therefore determined by subjective, and not objective reasons. Actually this is not true. A law has long been established in psychology according to which the desire for creativity is always inversely proportional to the simplicity of the environment. (11.1, 24 – 25) A child’s imagination is not richer, but poorer, than the imagination of an adult; In the process of child development, imagination also develops, reaching its maturity only in an adult. That is why the products of real creative imagination in all areas of creative activity belong only to already mature imagination. (11.1, 27) The basic law of the development of imagination is formulated as follows: imagination in its development passes through two periods, separated by a critical phase; the development of imagination and the development of reason are very divergent in childhood, and this relative independence of children’s imagination, its independence from the activity of reason, is an expression not the wealth, but the poverty of children's imagination, the further development of the imagination goes parallel to the line of development of reason. The discrepancy that was characteristic of childhood has disappeared here, the imagination, closely united with thinking, now keeps pace with it. However, this does not happen for everyone, for many development receives another option, and this is symbolized by a curve that quickly goes down and marks the decline or curtailment of the imagination. Let's take a closer look at the critical phase that separates both periods. During this period, a deep transformation of the imagination takes place: from subjective it turns into objective. (11.1, 27 – 29) ...it is also necessary to point out the dual role that imagination can play in human behavior. It can equally lead and lead a person away from reality. Satisfying oneself in the imagination is extremely easy, and going into daydreaming, escaping into an imaginary world often turns the strength and will of a teenager away from the real world; this dual role of imagination makes it a complex process, mastering which becomes extremely difficult. (11.1, 31) the desire of the imagination for embodiment is the true basis and driving principle of creativity. Any construction of the imagination, based on reality, strives to describe a full circle and become reality. The imagination strives, due to the impulses inherent in it, to become creative, i.e. effective, active, transforming what his activities are aimed at. (11.1, 34 – 35) Man comprehends the entire future with the help of creative imagination; orientation in the future, behavior based on the future and proceeding from this future, is the most important function of the imagination. The creation of a creative personality, directed towards the future, is prepared by the creative imagination, embodied in the present. (11.1, 78) In dramatic form, the full circle of the imagination is reflected with the greatest clarity. Here the image created from the elements of reality is embodied and realized again into reality, even if it is conditional; the desire for action, for embodiment, for realization, which is inherent in the very process of imagination, here finds its full realization. (11.1, 61) The imagination does not repeat in the same combinations and the same forms individual impressions that were accumulated before, but builds some new series from previously accumulated impressions. (1.2.2, 437) the law of real feeling in the activity of fantasy The movement of our feelings is closely connected with the activity of imagination. Very often this or that construction turns out to be unrealistic from the point of view of the rational aspects that underlie fantastic images, but they are real in an emotional sense. (1.2.2, 449) Imagination is an absolutely necessary, integral moment of realistic thinking. Essential for imagination is the direction of consciousness, which consists in a departure from reality into a known relatively autonomous activity of consciousness, which differs from direct knowledge of reality. (1.2.2, 453) See Activity, Thinking, Experience, Consciousness, Creativity

Involuntary and voluntary imagination. The simplest form of imagination is those images that arise without special intention or effort on our part. Looking at the bizarre clouds floating in the sky, we sometimes involuntarily see in them the face of a person or the outline of an animal. A boy reads an interesting book, he lives life its heroes, sympathizes with their joy and sorrow, fights with enemies, defeats them.An interesting, fascinating book evokes vivid images of the boy’s involuntary imagination.

Any exciting, interesting teaching usually causes a bright involuntary imagination in students.

One type of involuntary imagination is dreams. Dreams have always been associated with many prejudices and superstitions. This is explained by the nature of dreams, which sometimes represent a combination of strange, unprecedented, and

sometimes even absurd, fantastic, ridiculous pictures and; Soby combinations of scraps of traces of previous impressions and experiences. I. M. Sechenov believed that dreams are an unprecedented

a combination of past experiences.

A number of interesting experiments have shown that dreams are often “fabricated” on the basis of external stimuli that the sleeping person is not aware of. Perfume was brought to the sleeping person's face, and a blooming, fragrant garden was presented to him. They rang softly in my ear dyke, In my dreams, people saw themselves rushing with bells and bells, or saw a tray with crystal dishes fall from their hands and break into small fragments. The sleeper's feet open up and begin to chill in the cool room - he dreams that he is walking on the ice and gets his foot into an ice hole. Poor body position makes breathing difficult or compresses the heart - causing nightmares.

The nature of the so-called “prophetic dreams” is similar, which supposedly foreshadow future events and are therefore the source of various superstitions. Cases have been repeatedly observed where, with diseases of the internal organs, sleepers often see annoying dreams, the content of which is related to the nature of the development of painful phenomena. While the disease is still emerging, only weak signals are received in the cortex, which are not noticed because they are suppressed by other impressions. At night, these weak signals (with the second signaling system inhibited) are perceived by the brain, which causes the corresponding dreams. For example, one person often had dreams of this kind; either he was given a bone, or someone was strangling him. A careful examination by the doctor revealed nothing. But after some time a tumor appeared in his throat.

Free imagination manifests itself in cases where new images or ideas arise as a result of a person’s special intention to imagine something specific, concrete. An engineer examines a complex drawing of a new machine. He tries to imagine its appearance, the principle of its operation, and makes certain efforts for this. A student, studying botany, tries to imagine the appearance of a particular plant; while studying history, he tries to imagine the image of a historical figure or commander.

Recreative and creative imagination. According to the degree of independence of imagination and originality of its products, two types of imagination are distinguished - recreating And creative recreating imagination- this is the presentation of objects new to a person in accordance with their description, drawing, diagram. This type of imagination is used in a wide variety of activities. It plays a particularly important role in teaching.

When mastering educational material expressed in verbal form (teacher’s story, textbook text), the student must imagine what is being discussed; for example, imagine seas, lakes, mountains, unfamiliar plants, animals. The role of recreating imagination is especially great when reading fiction: with the help of recreating imagination, the student imagines characters, sees pictures of nature, and feels like a participant in the events described in the book. To correctly imagine what is conveyed in words, you need to have sufficient knowledge. The recreating imagination relies only on knowledge. If knowledge is insufficient, then ideas may be distorted: for example, some children imagine a mammoth as tall as a four-story house, and the death of foreign conquerors on the ice of Lake Peipsi at the hands of soldiers, Alexander Nevsky in the middle of the 13th century. represent this way: “The cannons broke through the ice and the knights drowned.”

In order to create in students the correct ideas about new educational material, it is necessary not only emotionally, but also to clearly and accurately talk about it. For the same purpose, it is important to supplement verbal information with visual material. Reliance on visual material always helps the work of the recreating imagination - the recreated image becomes more accurate, it more correctly reproduces reality. Our lesson, when studying a literary work whose plot is far from modern, is good to show students reproductions of paintings depicting the life and historical era of that time.

Unlike the recreating imagination creative imagination is the independent creation of new images in the process of creative activity. Creative activity is an activity that produces new, first-time, original products that have social significance: the discovery of new laws in science, the invention of new machines, finding ways to breed new plant varieties or animal breeds, creating works of art, literature, etc. Creative activity will also be the labor activity of advanced workers, production innovators, and innovators.

The source of creative activity is social necessity, the need for one or another new product. Even our distant ancestors at the dawn of human history were forced to invent new things to satisfy needs. Working with their hands, people saw the limitations of human hands and began to invent simple tools and devices that could perform the functions of hands faster and better (Fig. 24). The digging hand served as a prototype for the shovel; the outstretched fingers with which a man raked dry leaves for bedding suggested a rake; He replaced the hand clenched into a fist with a hammer. For many centuries, creative imagination has helped man improve his tools.

Creative imagination, of course, is a much more complex mental activity than recreating. Imagining the image of Grandfather Shchukar from a description is immeasurably easier than creating it. It is much easier to imagine a mechanism from a drawing than to construct it. And yet, there is no clear line between recreative and creative imagination: the artist creates an image in accordance with the role, the performing musician performs a work written by another, but both the artist and the musician give other people’s works their own original interpretation, which makes them creative figures.

Teacher's work can and should also be creative if the teacher does not work according to a template, but is constantly looking for something

new, develops new and original teaching methods

It is wrong to think that creativity is a free play of the imagination that does not require much and sometimes hard work. Everything new and significant: discoveries in the field of science and technology, major works in the field of literature and art - were created as a result of enormous, hard work. The so-called inspiration - the optimal concentration of a person’s spiritual forces and abilities - is the result of a lot of previous work. No wonder P. I. Tchaikovsky said that inspiration is such a guest that does not like to visit the lazy, and I. E. Repin considered inspiration a reward for hard labor.

In the process of creativity, an inventor or a writer repeatedly reworks and changes the images of the creative imagination in comparison with the original plan. Contemplating the novel "Anna Karenina"; L.N. Tolstoy initially imagined the heroine as an unattractive, unsympathetic woman. L. (". Pushkin, finishing "Eugene Onegin", married Tatyana Larina to the general, which was not his original intentions.

In people of creative work, the imagination can sometimes be unusually vivid and vivid, giving a strong emotional reaction. P.I. Tchaikovsky, according to him, cried when his Herman stabbed himself. A. N. Tolstoy, working on the trilogy “Walking through Torment,” clearly saw his heroes, even talked to them. I. A. Goncharov also saw and heard his heroes. M. I. Glinka, when composing the opera “Ivan Susanin,” so vividly imagined the position of the hero in the scene in the forest with the Poles that, according to the composer, his hair stood on end and frost crawled over his skin.

Dream as a special type of imagination. A dream is the creation of images of the desired future. Is it useful, is it necessary to dream? V. I. Lenin in the work “What to do?” expressed agreement with the famous Russian critic D.I. Pisarev, who answered this question exhaustively. D.I. Pisarev believed that everything depends on whether a dream can overtake the natural course of events or whether it can lead completely to the side, to where no natural course of events can ever lead. In the first case, a dream can support and strengthen the energy of a working person, when he is able to occasionally run ahead and contemplate with his imagination in a complete and complete picture the very creation that is just beginning to take shape under his hands. This helps a person, according to D.I. Pisarev, to undertake and complete extensive and tedious work in the field of art, science and practical life.

An effective, socially oriented dream, which raises a person to fight and inspires work, cannot be confused with empty, fruitless, unfounded: daydreaming that does not encourage activity, but leads away from reality and relaxes a person.

There are dreams of a real plan, but associated with the achievement of a small, insignificant, commonplace goal, when all a person’s dreams are limited to the desire to have a fashionable suit

fashion records. On this occasion they say this: “If a dream is flight, then there is the flight of an eagle and the flight of a chicken!”

“So, a dream inspires a person, helps to overcome difficulties, and gives the opportunity to look into the most distant future. Even in ancient times, people dreamed” of flying, and created a fairy tale about a flying carpet. These dreams contributed to the fact that man actually learned to fly. Nowadays, people go further in their dreams. K. E. Tsiolkovsky theoretically justified what was possible than man had only dreamed of. This dream of flying is being successfully realized by the Soviet people. Yu. A. Gagarin was the first in the world to begin the conquest of space. Other Soviet cosmonauts successfully continue their flights into space And its further development.

An active, creative dream is of great importance not only in the lives of individuals, but also in the life of the entire society. In your Soviet country, the wildest dreams can be realized if they are aimed at the benefit of the people. Marxist-Leninist teaching has become the compass that leads workers from dreams to reality, the invincible force that encourages them to move forward to build communism in our country.

Have you ever dreamed of anything? A property of the psyche that develops from childhood is a tendency to imagine. What is this property in psychology? What types are there? A fantastic presentation of something allows children to develop their imagination, which is associated with another important property - creativity.

Every creative person is someone who has a well-developed imagination. This is the ability to see a picture of the future before it is realized. This is the ability to imagine in all colors what needs to be done.

A developed imagination allows you to anticipate events and make predictions. We can say that people with supernatural abilities also have a developed imagination. Little children who draw, sculpt, or design something also use their imagination. It allows you to make the world more perfect, more interesting, more beautiful, especially in those moments when reality is not very attractive.

What is imagination?

All people use their imagination. The extent of this process depends only on the level of its development. What is imagination? This is the mental, conscious activity of a person who imagines visual and figurative pictures in his thoughts. In other words, this process is called daydreaming, fantasizing, visualization.

Imagination helps to imagine pictures that have not yet been realized, they are difficult to realize today, or there is no need for their execution. To some extent, a person, through imagination, seeks a way out of the situation, even if it is simply about visualizing his desire.

Psychologists have not yet fully studied the phenomenon of imagination, since it is invisible, intangible, and cannot be measured or touched. Imagination refers to a person’s ability to recreate pictures of any direction, which are based on existing experience that was previously obtained.

Imagination becomes very important in professional activities or at a stage when it is necessary to find a new solution to a problem that is unique or previously unknown. Here a person shows his creative nature. Using imagination, a person can find new ways to solve a given problem. Here, breadth of vision, flexibility and other qualities that allow you to look at the situation from many angles become important.

A person's imagination, as well as his ability to do so, can serve as a powerful means of confronting the vicissitudes of life. To “abstract” from an object means to mentally “push” it aside or “exclude” it from one’s consideration. Possessing imagination, a person can “transport” himself beyond the current situation, “scroll through” alternative options, and thereby create a psychological space of his own choice. In this way, you can feel your own existence more fully and remain free.

Existential psychologists emphasize the importance of the concept of freedom in the lives of each of their patients. They do not believe in the existence of some higher principle that controls everything in the Universe and determines the destinies of people. However, for many, freedom is burdensome because it implies the acceptance of personal responsibility for one’s actions.

Deep down, people recognize the fact of their loneliness and therefore try to counteract it by uniting with other people. However, if a person is largely dependent on others, he mistakenly thinks that his own existence is impossible apart from them.

During psychotherapy, after the patient realizes his true aspirations, the therapist helps him eliminate factors that interfere with the fulfillment of his desires. The therapist reminds the patient that everyone makes decisions every day, even when they don't think about it. When people resort to the help of their defense mechanisms, shielding themselves from the flow of existential truth, they often find themselves in unpleasant situations:

• They involuntarily classify themselves as special or omnipotent people. Irvin Yalom emphasizes that such an individual can turn into an egoist and paranoid.
• They thoughtlessly believe in a “savior.” Too much attachment to this idea can make a person addicted. For existential therapists, this is a kind of taboo, since the idea of ​​salvation from the outside contradicts obvious existential facts.

Imagination in psychology

How do psychologists characterize the concept of imagination? In psychology, it has a broad concept, which includes the ability to recreate previously perceived images, manipulate them without having direct physical contact, predict and imagine a future that has not yet come true. A person in his imagination can be anyone and live however he wants. Sometimes imagination is confused with perception, but these are different mental processes.

Imagination is based on images from memory, and not on what is happening in the world around us. Often a person imagines images that are far from reality; they are called dreams or fantasies.

All people have a penchant for imagination. Another thing is that everyone uses this property differently. There are pragmatic, boring, skeptical people who simply don’t want to, don’t know how to use their imagination, or their imagination is undeveloped. The life of such people is subject to rules, logic, principles, facts. On the one hand, their life flows smoothly, understandably and without incident. On the other hand, such people become boring, monotonous, and uninteresting. After all, imagination makes people individual, unique, special.

Functions of imagination:

• Cognitive - helps to gain new knowledge, see new options, combine existing information and obtain new facts.
• Forecasting helps a person to foresee further developments of events even when actions are not performed or completed.
• Understanding – allows you to imagine the feelings and state of another person. This is called empathy.
• Protective - anticipating possible difficulties and troubles, a person can protect himself from them.
• Self-development - by imagining, a person improves, becomes different.
• Memories - allows a person to recreate pictures from the past in his head, relive and replay them.

Usually a person uses predominantly one function of the imagination, but combinations are also possible. How are images and ideas created in the imagination?

1. Agglutination is the transformation of an existing object into a completely new phenomenon. It becomes improved, new, perfect.
2. Emphasis – focusing attention on the dominant characteristic of a certain object, person, phenomenon, highlighting it against the general background.
3. Typing is the selection of common characteristics from several objects, their combination into something new that contains a piece of each object.

In almost all areas of life, people use their imagination. New gadgets, medicines, and clothing models are being created that contain everything that has already been positively noted in previous models.

Imagination is based on existing experience, which is now transformed and improved. All this is happening only in my head for now. This is not reality, although it could become it. Often people simply imagine something that can never exist or there are no technologies yet that could realize the imagined fantasy.

A person imagines only what interests him. This helps you get to know yourself a little, your tastes and wishes. At the same time, imagination allows a person to draw up a plan of action, imagining the result that one wants to achieve. Thus, imagination is a way of drawing up a plan according to which a person is going to live in the near future.

Types of imagination

You should consider the types of imagination on the website of psychotherapeutic assistance website:

• Active (voluntary). Represents a person's active and purposeful representation of what he wants to see. This often occurs when it is necessary to solve some problem, to play a certain role. A person controls what he sees, consciously managing the process.

• Passive (involuntary). The simplest way, in which a person is practically not included in the process of creating new images. They are created based on existing images that are combined. At the same time, a person practically does not control the imagination, consciousness is weak, and there is no intention to embody ideas. Often such dreams arise in a drowsy or half-asleep state.

• Creative. This type of imagination is a reflection of reality with a certain amount of novelty and uniqueness. You can use existing data, or you can imagine something new, combine it with existing data and get something unique.

• Recreating. This type of imagination is aimed at imagining something that a person has never seen, but has certain descriptions of this object. For example, mentally fly into space or travel to prehistoric times.

• Dream. This type of imagination is active, in which a person imagines what he wants. Dreams reflect desires that one would like to realize in the future. Here you can plan your further actions, as well as predict the development of events.

Dreams can be useful and harmful. If they are divorced from reality, are in no way connected with a person’s capabilities, and make him passive and relaxed, then dreams turn into dreams in which the individual can immerse himself for a long time. If dreams are close to reality, have a clear structure, a plan for implementation and mobilize a person, then we are talking about the useful side of this process.

There is nothing wrong with dreams, fantasies and visions of your future. Sometimes it can even be helpful to relax and briefly move to a place where you are happy, loved, rich, successful, healthy, or doing something you want to do. But sometimes a person gets so carried away by his dreams that he forgets about reality. Often the harshness of life pushes us to escape into our own fantasies and often sleep, see dreams, which can also be fantastic, pleasant and magical.

Psychologists have noticed that the more unrealistic a person’s fantasies are, the lower his self-esteem. Moreover, the more fantastic the dreams, the more unsightly the reality is. Not only does a person, for some reason, have low self-esteem, but he also does not want to change his reality so that it is not grey, boring or cruel.

Dreaming with the goal of imagining what you are striving for is one thing. But it is a completely different approach when you are dreaming, because this is the only state that gives you joy. This is already more like an escape than a search for stimuli and energy, which is acquired in the first case. Here it is better to understand why you do not want to change your reality, make it more pleasant and colorful, rather than wasting time and energy on empty dreams. After all, just because you fantasize, nothing will change. As long as you just dream about something, it remains a dream. But this ability was not given to a person so that he would waste his time on empty thoughts and pictures. Fantasies are given in order to draw energy from them to achieve goals and once again check your actions, which should contribute to the realization of what you want.

Of course, no one will forbid you to dream and make your fantasies unrealistic. But you still have to live in reality. In that case, why not make it as beautiful as your dreams?

Imagination and creativity

Psychologists insist that imagination and creativity are interconnected. Creativity is the creation of something new based on what exists in reality. Imagination allows you to imagine this new thing before it is created. For the most part, imagination acts as a search for a new solution, object, plan of action, by implementing which he will be able to achieve the task.

Creative imagination involves creating a unique object that did not exist before. This is to some extent due to the individual characteristics of the person himself. For most, creative imagination is an innate quality. However, methods are being developed to develop creative thinking.

1. At the first stage, a fuzzy idea appears, an image that does not yet have clearly defined boundaries and forms.
2. The second stage consists of incubating an idea, thinking it through, seeing it more clearly, and improving it.
3. The third stage is the transition from incubating an idea to its implementation.

Children's imagination is fantastic, devoid of reality and rationalism. Already in adolescence, a person’s mind becomes critical, which becomes very noticeable in adulthood. This to some extent complicates the creative process, when a person must be flexible, versatile, and uncritical.

Developing creative thinking requires human curiosity. Reading books, watching TV shows, traveling and much more allows you to see something new for yourself and become immersed in new experiences. Often, involuntary imagination is activated here, which can soon become controlled by a person.

A world in which only you live seems unthinkable and incredible, since people exist in a world where there are others. You can go into the forest or wild paths where people usually don’t go. But to completely remain in a world where there will be no one is something out of fiction and science fiction.

There are a large number of people living on planet Earth, but many live in a world in which only They exist. These are the so-called creative individuals who do not connect with the surrounding society. By their temperament, they are so immersed in their own world that everyday problems are alien to them.

A creative person lives in a world in which only He exists. This is not a whim, not a whim, not an escape from reality, but such is nature. Without the realization of internal potential, a creative person will not be able to enter the outside world. Undoubtedly, even he eats, communicates with other people, worries about the social situation in the country, starts a family, etc. But the rules and traditions by which society lives become so insignificant to him that in the eyes of others he seems detached from reality .

A creative person does not renounce reality. Moreover, he sees her deeply. It’s just that the vanity and ridiculous traditions invented by people seem unnecessary and stupid to him. He just doesn't follow them.

A world in which there is only I is the psychology of a creative person. Undoubtedly, he lives in a world where other people exist. But until his inner potential is revealed and realized, a creative person will be aimed at only one thing - to immerse himself in any situation and be ready at any moment to manifest himself as a creative person.

Development of imagination in children

Children's imagination is the most developed, active and uncontrollable. We can say that children involuntarily imagine what they see or want to see. This type of thinking helps to understand the world around us, systematize knowledge, and understand the essence of what is happening. The development of imagination in children occurs in stages:

• Until the age of 4-5 years, a child operates with images that he can form and improve himself.
• After 4-5 years, the child begins to manage his own images, plan them, and look for ways out of the situation.
• At 6-7 years old, children easily imagine themselves and their own lives.

It should be noted that each child's imagination develops differently. This is influenced not only by individual characteristics of mental development, but also by external factors:

1. The environment in which the child lives.
2. Emotions that a child constantly experiences.
3. The opportunity to express yourself as a creative person.
4. Speech and age of the child. With the advent of speech, the child receives more opportunities for his creative development.

Children actively use their imagination at an early age. They draw, sing, dance, sculpt, etc. These activities should not be discouraged. It is also recommended to write stories together with your child, as well as play role-playing games, where the child will role-play various professions, for example.

Growing up, a child gains experience, interests, hobbies, in which he shows his creative thinking. In this case, parents should also not create obstacles if they want their child to have a developed imagination.

Bottom line

Imagination plays an important role in human life. To imagine, predict or remember something, you need imagination. Undoubtedly, it will be filled with various fantastic ideas about life that a person still believes in, regardless of his age. However, the result of a developed imagination is the ability not only to dream, but also to plan one’s own future.

You don't have to use your imagination, but only apply logical facts and principles. This will make a person's life monotonous and consistent. On the other hand, the lack of a creative approach makes a person boring, uninteresting, and monotonous. He becomes like other people, loses his “zest”, individuality.

All people have imagination. It's just that not everyone uses it. Everyone is free to decide how to use their own capabilities. The most important thing is that all tools enrich a person’s life, and not limit it.

Imagination- the ability of the human mind to construct images and assumptions, which is categorically unacceptable in the work of a Christian ascetic.

The activity of human imagination is inextricably linked with the power of the human mind. This activity is quite acceptable in many areas of human creativity - science, art, etc. However, it is deprived of all meaning in the life of prayer and has no positive meaning for knowledge.

The source of spiritual life is Himself, and not man-made images and guesses. The knowledge of God descends from God Himself, given through His Divine. It cannot be achieved through one’s own human efforts, and therefore requires a decisive ban on the activity of the imagination. A person knows God to the extent that God Himself reveals Himself to Him. The created creature is not able to replace this with the activity of the created mind, and any such replacement leads to the spiritual degradation of man, to spiritual death. If in the field of science and culture imagination has a positive value, then in the matter of knowledge of God it can cause harm to human imagination, which replaces God with its sensual images.

The holy fathers contrast the imagination: “One image of sobriety is to constantly watch the imagination, or otherwise, for excuses: for without imagination Satan cannot create thoughts and present them for evil deception” ().

“Imagination and memory are nothing more than the impression of all those sensory objects that we have seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched. We can say that imagination and memory are one internal common sense that imagines and remembers everything that the external five senses had to experience before. And in some way, external feelings and sensory objects are like a seal, and the imagination is like the impression of a seal, teaches St. . – God is beyond all feelings and everything sensual, beyond every form, color, measure and place, he is completely ugly and formless, and although he is everywhere, he is above all; then He is beyond all imagination... From here it naturally follows that imagination is such a power of the soul that, by its nature, does not have the ability to remain in the area of ​​unity with God.”

“The mind, during prayer, must be kept, and with all care, formless, rejecting all images drawn in the imaginary faculty: because the mind in prayer stands before the invisible God, Who cannot be represented in any material way. Images, if the mind allows them in prayer, will become an impenetrable curtain, a wall between the mind and God. ...

If, during your prayer, the form of Christ, or an Angel, or some Saint, - in a word, any image - appeared to you sensually or was depicted in you mentally, in no way accept this phenomenon as true, do not turn to it no attention, don't engage in conversation with him. Otherwise, you will certainly be subjected to deception and severe mental damage, which is what happened to many. A person, until he is renewed by the Holy Spirit, is incapable of communicating with holy spirits. He, as still in the realm of the fallen spirits, in captivity and slavery to them, is able to see only them, and they often, noticing in him a high opinion of himself and self-delusion, appear to him in the form of bright angels, in the form of Christ Himself, for the destruction of his soul.

The most dangerous, incorrect form of prayer occurs when the person praying with the power of his imagination creates dreams or pictures, apparently borrowing them from the Holy Scriptures, but in essence from his own condition, from his fall, from his sinfulness, from his self-delusion. With these pictures he flatters his conceit, his vanity, his arrogance, his pride, he deceives himself. It is obvious that everything created by the dreaminess of our fallen nature, perverted by the fall of nature, does not actually exist, it is fiction and lies, so characteristic and so beloved of the fallen angel. A dreamer, from the first step on the path of prayer, leaves the realm of truth, enters the realm of lies, the realm of Satan, and arbitrarily submits to the influence of Satan.

Daydreaming in prayer is even more harmful than absent-mindedness. Absent-mindedness makes prayer fruitless, and daydreaming causes false fruits: self-delusion and (so called by the holy fathers) demonic delusion.”
St.

Question 46. Definition, types, functions of imagination. The role of imagination in solving cognitive and personality problems. Development of imagination. Imagination and creativity.

Imagination- this is the mental process of creating new images, ideas and thoughts based on existing experience, by restructuring a person’s ideas.

Imagination is closely connected with all other cognitive processes and occupies a special place in human cognitive activity. Thanks to this process, a person can anticipate the course of events, foresee the results of his actions and actions. It allows you to create behavior programs in situations characterized by uncertainty.

From a physiological point of view, imagination is the process of formation of new systems of temporary connections as a result of complex analytical and synthetic activity of the brain.

In the process of imagination, systems of temporary nerve connections seem to disintegrate and unite into new complexes, groups of nerve cells are connected in a new way.

The physiological mechanisms of imagination are located in the cortex and deeper parts of the brain.

Imagination - this is the process of mental transformation of reality, the ability to construct new holistic images of reality by processing the content of existing practical, sensory, intellectual and emotional-semantic experience.

Types of imagination

By subject – emotional, figurative, verbal-logical

By mode of activity - active and passive, intentional and unintentional

By the nature of the images - abstract and concrete

According to the results, it is reconstructive (mental reproduction of images of objects that actually exist) and creative (creation of images of objects that do not currently exist).

Types of imagination:

- active - when a person, through an effort of will, evokes appropriate images in himself. Active imagination is a creative, recreating phenomenon. Creative active imagination arises as a result of work, independently creates images that are expressed in original and valuable products of activity. This is the basis of any creativity;

- passive - when images arise by themselves, do not depend on desires and will and are not brought to life.

Passive imagination is:

- involuntary imagination . The simplest form of imagination is those images that arise without special intention or effort on our part (floating clouds, reading an interesting book). Any interesting, exciting teaching usually evokes a vivid involuntary imagination. One type of involuntary imagination is dreams . N.M. Sechenov believed that dreams are an unprecedented combination of experienced impressions.

- arbitrary imagination manifests itself in cases where new images or ideas arise as a result of a person’s special intention to imagine something specific, concrete.

Among the various types and forms of voluntary imagination we can distinguish recreating imagination, creative imagination and dream. Recreating imagination manifests itself when a person needs to recreate a representation of an object that matches its description as fully as possible. For example, when reading books, we imagine heroes, events, etc. Creative imagination is characterized by the fact that a person transforms ideas and creates new ones not according to an existing model, but by independently outlining the contours of the created image and choosing the necessary materials for it. Creative imagination, like recreating, is closely related to memory, since in all cases of its manifestation a person uses his previous experience. A dream is a type of imagination that involves the independent creation of new images. At the same time, a dream has a number of differences from creative imagination. 1) in a dream a person always recreates the image of what he wants, but not always in creativity; 2) a dream is a process of imagination that is not included in creative activity, i.e. not immediately and directly providing an objective product in the form of a work of art, a scientific discovery, etc. 3) a dream is always aimed at future activities, i.e. A dream is an imagination aimed at a desired future.

Functions of the imagination.

In human life, imagination performs a number of specific functions. First one of them is to represent reality in images and be able to use them when solving problems. This function of imagination is connected with thinking and is organically included in it. Second the function of imagination is to regulate emotional states. With the help of his imagination, a person is able to at least partially satisfy many needs and relieve the tension generated by them. This vital function is especially emphasized and developed in psychoanalysis. Third the function of imagination is associated with its participation in the voluntary regulation of cognitive processes and human states, in particular perception, attention, memory, speech, emotions. With the help of skillfully evoked images, a person can pay attention to the necessary events. Through images, he gains the opportunity to control perceptions, memories, and statements. Fourth the function of imagination is to form an internal plan of action - the ability to carry them out in the mind, manipulating images. Finally, fifth function is planning and programming activities, drawing up such programs, assessing their correctness, and the implementation process. With the help of imagination, we can control many psychophysiological states of the body and tune it to upcoming activities. There are also known facts indicating that with the help of imagination, purely by will, a person can influence organic processes: change the rhythm of breathing, pulse rate, blood pressure, body temperature.

Imagination carries the following functions (as defined by R. S. Nemov):

- representation of reality in images;

- emotional regulation states;

Voluntary regulation of cognitive processes and human states:

- formation of internal action plan;

- planning and programming activities;

- psychophysiological management state of the body.

The role of imagination in solving cognitive and personality problems.

Imagination is closely related to thinking:

Like thinking, it allows you to foresee the future;

Imagination and thinking arise in a problem situation;

Imagination and thinking are motivated by the needs of the individual;

In the process of activity, imagination appears in unity with thinking;

The basis of imagination is the ability to choose an image; thinking is based on the possibility of a new combination of concepts.

The main purpose of fantasy is to present an alternative to reality. As such, fantasy serves two main purposes:

It stimulates creativity, allowing you to create something that does not exist (yet), and

It acts as a balancing mechanism for the soul, offering the individual a means of self-help to achieve emotional balance (self-healing). Fantasy is also used for clinical purposes; the results of projective psychological tests and techniques are based on fantasy projections (as is the case in the TAT). In addition, in various psychotherapeutic approaches, fantasy is assigned the role of an exploratory or therapeutic tool.

Development of imagination

It is very difficult to determine any specific age limits that characterize the dynamics of imagination development. There are examples of extremely early development of imagination. For example, Mozart began composing music at the age of four, Repin and Serov could draw well at the age of six. On the other hand, the late development of imagination does not mean that this process will be at a low level in more mature years. History knows of cases where great people, for example Einstein, were not distinguished by a developed imagination in childhood, but over time they began to be talked about as geniuses.

Despite the difficulty of determining the stages of development of imagination in humans, certain patterns in its formation can be identified. Thus, the first manifestations of imagination are closely related to the process of perception. For example, children aged one and a half years are not yet able to listen to even the simplest stories or fairy tales; they are constantly distracted or fall asleep, but listen with pleasure to stories about what they themselves have experienced. This phenomenon clearly shows the connection between imagination and perception. A child listens to a story about his experiences because he clearly imagines what is being said. The connection between perception and imagination continues at the next stage of development, when the child begins to process received impressions in his games, modifying previously perceived objects in his imagination. The chair turns into a cave or an airplane, the box into a car. However, it should be noted that the first images of a child’s imagination are always associated with activity. The child does not dream, but embodies the processed image in his activities, even though this activity is a game.

An important stage in the development of imagination is associated with the age when a child masters speech. Speech allows the child to include in the imagination not only specific images, but also more abstract ideas and concepts. Moreover, speech allows the child to move from expressing images of imagination in activity to their direct expression in speech.

The stage of mastering speech is accompanied by an increase in practical experience and the development of attention, which allows the child to more easily identify individual parts of an object, which he already perceives as independent and with which he increasingly operates in his imagination. However, the synthesis occurs with significant distortions of reality. Due to the lack of sufficient experience and insufficient critical thinking, the child cannot create an image that is close to reality. The main feature of this stage is the involuntary nature of the emergence of imagination. Most often, images of imagination are formed in a child of this age involuntarily, in accordance with with the situation he is in.

The next stage in the development of imagination is associated with the emergence of its active forms. At this stage, the process of imagination becomes voluntary. The emergence of active forms of imagination is initially associated with stimulating initiative on the part of an adult. For example, when an adult asks a child to do something (draw a tree, build a house out of cubes, etc.), he activates the imagination process. In order to fulfill the request of an adult, the child must first create, or recreate, a certain image in his imagination. Moreover, this process of imagination, by its nature, is already voluntary, since the child tries to control it. Later, the child begins to use his own imagination without any adult participation. This leap in the development of imagination is reflected, first of all, in the nature of the child’s games. They become focused and story-driven. The things surrounding the child become not just stimuli for the development of objective activity, but act as material for the embodiment of images of his imagination. A child at the age of four or five begins to draw, build, sculpt, rearrange things and combine them in accordance with his plan.

Another major shift in imagination occurs during school age. The need to understand educational material determines the activation of the process of recreating imagination. In order to assimilate the knowledge that is given at school, the child actively uses his imagination, which causes the progressive development of the ability to process images of perception into images of imagination.

Another reason for the rapid development of imagination during school years is that during the learning process the child actively acquires new and diverse ideas about objects and phenomena of the real world. These ideas serve as a necessary basis for imagination and stimulate the student’s creative activity.

The degree of development of imagination is characterized by the vividness of images and the depth with which the data of past experience is processed, as well as the novelty and meaningfulness of the results of this processing. The strength and vividness of imagination is easily assessed when the product of imagination is implausible and bizarre images, for example, among the authors of fairy tales. Poor development of imagination is expressed in a low level of processing of ideas. Weak imagination entails difficulties in solving mental problems that require the ability to visualize a specific situation. With an insufficient level of imagination development, a rich and emotionally diverse life is impossible.

People differ most clearly in the degree of vividness of their imagination. If we assume that there is a corresponding scale, then at one pole there will be people with extremely high levels of vividness of the images of the imagination, which they experience as visions, and at the other pole there will be people with extremely pale ideas. As a rule, we find a high level of development of imagination among people engaged in creative work - writers, artists, musicians, scientists.

Significant differences between people are revealed regarding the nature of the dominant type of imagination. Most often there are people with a predominance of visual, auditory or motor images of the imagination. But there are people who have a high development of all or most types of imagination. These people can be classified as the so-called mixed type. Belonging to one or another type of imagination very significantly affects the individual psychological characteristics of a person. For example, people of the auditory or motor type very often dramatize the situation in their thoughts, imagining a non-existent opponent.

The development of imagination in the human race, considered historically, follows the same path as that of the individual. Vico, whose name is well worth mentioning here because he was the first to see how myths can be used for the study of the imagination, divided the historical path of mankind into three successive periods: divine or theocratic, heroic or fabulous, human or historical in the proper sense; and after one such cycle has passed, a new one begins

- vigorous activity (D. in general) stimulates the development of imagination

Development of various types of creative activities and scientific activities

The use of special techniques for creating new products of imagination as solutions to problems - agglutination, typification, hyperbolization, schematypization

- agglutination (from lat. agglutinatio - gluing) - combining individual parts or different objects into one image;

- emphasis, sharpening - emphasizing some detail in the created image, highlighting a part;

- hyperbolization - displacement of an object, change in the number of its parts, reduction or increase in its size;

- schematization - highlighting the characteristic that is repeated in homogeneous phenomena and reflecting it in a specific image.

- typing - highlighting the similarities of objects, smoothing out their differences;

Active connection of feelings and emotions.

Imagination and creativity.

The leading connection is the dependence of imagination on creativity: imagination is formed in the process of creative activity. The imagination, necessary for the transformation of reality and creative activity, was formed in the process of this creative activity. The development of imagination occurred as more and more perfect products of imagination were created.

Imagination plays a particularly important role in scientific and artistic creativity. Creativity without the active participation of imagination is generally impossible. Imagination allows a scientist to build hypotheses, mentally imagine and perform scientific experiments, search for and find non-trivial solutions to problems. Imagination plays an important role in the early stages of solving a scientific problem and often leads to remarkable insights.

The study of the role of imagination in the processes of scientific and technical creativity is carried out by specialists in the psychology of scientific creativity.

Creativity is closely related to all mental processes, including imagination. The degree of development of imagination and its characteristics are no less important for creativity than, say, the degree of development of thinking. The psychology of creativity manifests itself in all its specific types: inventive, scientific, literary, artistic, etc. What factors determine the possibility of human creativity? 1) human knowledge, which is supported by appropriate abilities, and is stimulated by determination; 2) the presence of certain experiences that create the emotional tone of creative activity.

The English scientist G. Wallace made an attempt to study the creative process. As a result, he was able to identify 4 stages of the creative process: 1. Preparation (the birth of an idea). 2. Maturation (concentration, “contraction” of knowledge, directly and indirectly). 3. Insight (intuitive grasp of the desired result). 4. Check.

Thus, the creative transformation of reality in the imagination is subject to its own laws and is carried out in certain ways. New ideas arise on the basis of what was already in consciousness, thanks to the operations of synthesis and analysis. Ultimately, the processes of imagination consist in the mental decomposition of initial ideas into their component parts (analysis) and their subsequent combination in new combinations (synthesis), i.e. are analytical and synthetic in nature. Consequently, the creative process relies on the same mechanisms that are involved in the formation of ordinary images of the imagination.