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  • 15 - Creating Imaginary Worlds across the Lifespan

  • from Part III - Modes of Enhancement
  • Edited by Sandra W. Russ, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, Jessica D. Hoffmann, Yale University, Connecticut, James C. Kaufman, University of Connecticut
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Handbook of Lifespan Development of Creativity
    Published online:
    19 November 2021
    Print publication:
    25 November 2021, pp 327-350

  • Summary

    The invention of imaginary worlds may be understood as a powerful tool for exploring experience, discovering the self, and creating knowledge and meaning. An imagined world is an earth or universe or a system of make-believe ideas and things that may be contemplated in the mind, though it remains veritably unexperienced. In childhood, worldplay (paracosm play) refers to imaginative pretense that is persistent, cumulative, and constructive (maps, stories, drawings, and more may be generated). In adulthood, worldplay refers to the world-building narratives of writers and artists; to the plausible reconstructions, scenarios, and probable worlds of social scientists; and to the theoretical suppositions and possible worlds of scientists. As such, worldplay presents a unique opportunity to probe what-if cognition. Indeed, as the history of its study indicates, world invention as play and as creative strategy tells us much about development of imaginative thinking and the growth of creative competence across the lifespan.