What is imagination?
What is imagination? What are the functions of imagination? Let's look at it.
Human existence oscillates perennially on two different planes, that of reality (which manifests itself through its direct participation in physically tangible events) and that of subjectivity (which results from the way in which each individual lives his or her inner world). That is, between perception and imagination.
Although there is a clear boundary between the two, we cannot deny that there are certain points of contact: what we imagine tends to come from events experienced in the past, while countless realities were first conceived in an inquiring mind.
The ability to create mental scenarios is a characteristic of our species, allowing it to transcend the limitations imposed by nature to discover strategies from which to benefit, even if this has sometimes been detrimental to the planet.
In this article we will delve in detail into what the phenomenon of the imagination is and its functions.. Also, we will deepen in those daily areas in which it plays a key role, with the aim of exemplifying its scope in our lives.
Imagination: what is it and what is it for?
Imagination is the ability to create, at a cognitive level, images (or scenes) that are not present in the perceptual field of the person who articulates them.It can be spiced up by the inclusion of elements evoked in any sensory modality. In this way it is possible to reproduce situations from the past that not only involve visual content, but also the sensations that accompanied them (positive and negative). It also makes it possible to explore intangible ideas or concepts, and even combine them to generate novel products that never existed or were not experienced directly.
In this sense, two subtypes of imagination are distinguished, the reproductive (simple evocation of the past, deformed by the passage of time and by the limitations of storage in memory) and the productive (mental construction of new contents from the amalgamation of lived experiences). This phenomenon also includes the well-known counterfactual thoughts, i.e., the hypothetical formulation of alternative scenarios to illustrate how life could have been if a certain high point in life had been different (a different decision, for example).
And the fact is that imagining is a common human activity. Thanks to this activity, we can think of possibilities and conditions (which often begin with a "what if") that are the essence of creative or divergent thinking, which is the basis for the advancement of technology, science and art.
From the very writing of a research hypothesis to the creation of a plastic or literary work, all of them have an imaginative element of enormous magnitude that shapes the artistic and scientific legacy of humankind.. Even the stories, tales and mythologies of each culture, which have a moralizing objective and serve to provide the community with an identity substratum, were born and nourished by this symbolic capacity.
Parts of the brain involved
Imagination is a very demanding function in terms of cognitive resources.For this reason, it has only been described in a very limited number of mammals (among which the human animal stands out exceptionally). When a person's brain is observed during a task in which he/she must imagine, an intense activation of the occipital cortex (related to visual information processing), the parietal cortex (which integrates sensory perception), the frontal lobe (the seat of the capacity to reflect on objective/abstract things) and the precuneus (also known as the "mind's eye" and in charge of dimensions linked to self-awareness) can be appreciated.
The faculty of imagining is so powerful for the human being that it motivates a response within the brain very similar to the one that would be appreciated in the case that the fact was really happening in front of him. When it is distorted in a pathological way (e.g. generalized anxiety disorder), it becomes threatening to our ancient limbic structures, on which emotional regulation in the face of danger depends. This is why an imagination of an adverse nature relentlessly bombards the physiological resources for stress and affect management.This is particularly harmful if metacognition (ability to differentiate what is true from what are mental products) is diluted, as happens in psychotic disorders.
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Processes in which the use of imagination is involved.
Below we show the seven most important processes in which we resort to the use of imagination. From this list we will exclude dreams, since they are considered an involuntary expression of imagination, in order to focus only on those cases in which it is used deliberately (through the activity of the prefrontal cortex). As will be seen, this is an elementary and omnipresent cognitive phenomenon in human activity.
1. Remembrance
The simple evocation of a memory supposes the use of the imaginationThe simple evocation of a memory involves the use of the imagination, since a scene that is not present at the immediate moment is transferred to the consciousness. Such a process has a very important reconstructive component, since the information that was originally attended to loses its details over time, preserving only the general outline of the stimulus. The elements that are not accessible (due to the effects of conventional forgetting or because they were not filtered into the consciousness) are complemented with the subjective contribution of the individual, which usually gives rise to distortions, misunderstandings, errors and inaccuracies.
Through the imagination it is plausible to elicit scenes and/or situations that never really happened, and that these may intrude into the real memories and become confused in them. This is an extreme example of how the contents we create with our own mind can interfere with the internal experience, even to the point of being experienced as a piece of an artificial past.
2. Prediction of future events
Imagination is not only directed towards events that occurred in the past, but also towards those that are about to occur.. In this case, imagination aims to create a range of potentialities based on previous experiences.
Expectations and longings, which have unavoidable emotional overtones, play a role when designing a prediction; but probabilistic and logical foundations also come into play, bringing together available information and knowledge about the variables involved in the estimation (cause/effect experience of what has already been experienced).
3. Prediction of one's own reactions and planning of what to do
Imagination is involved in processes such as problem solving, planning and/or prospective memory, all of which are associated with the activity of the prefrontal cortex. It implies a step further with respect to the aforementioned and includes the action itself within a foreseen scenario. It aims to facilitate an adequate adaptation to the environment, including the anticipation of contingencies, the sequence of coping strategies to deal with them and the development of a method by which to respond to a threat.
4. Creativity
Creativity implies a style of reflection and unconventional thinking, which has also been coined as divergent. As its name suggests, it involves the creation of new ideas using as raw material concepts or procedures that already existed previously, but which were used in a linear fashion by most individuals. As a result, new knowledge is obtained that transcends the previous one, and that is more useful or efficient in its application to real life.and that turns out to be more useful or efficient in its application to real life. This form or style of information processing has in the imagination its fundamental ally, because without it it is unfeasible.
Creativity has been related to thought patterns that require a particular interhemispheric connection.. The degree or level of complexity that has been observed in human beings is not reproduced in any other animal species, and may be one of the elements that have contributed to our position on this planet being (for better or worse) what it is.
5. Emotional changes
Imagination can be used, in the field of psychotherapy, as a tool with which to induce positive emotional states or to soften the negative ones that grip the subject. There is an endless number of procedures that make use of it, and that are included under the general label of "visualization"..
For its application, the therapist must use evocative words, and these must be translated into the mental creation of multisensory contents by the patient (visual, auditory, gustatory, etc.), which merit modifications in the internal experience.
In general, the "instructions" offered seek to generate relaxing scenes that relieve emotional tension, facilitate experiences that contribute to overcoming a fear (exposure to fear in imagination), increase confidence with respect to a task (creative visualization of oneself practicing an action, especially in sports) or coordinate diaphragmatic Respiratory activity using a support medium (a boat gently rocking on the horizon that helps to regulate the cadence of inspiration/expiration). In case the person finds it difficult to imagine, prior training may be required..
6. Evasion or enjoyment
Imagination can also be used to recreate a memory that has already passed, or with the objective of constructing a desired scene that (for whatever reason) is not accessible on the level of individual reality. It would be translated by the colloquial expression of "daydreaming" and would be a fertile ground for those who long for a "change" in the dynamics of their daily life. Other people resort to imagination only because through it they have access to moments of great emotional depth that were part of their lives (for the presence of a loved one and for the nostalgia of a time that will not return).
In certain cases, imagination can be used in moments of existential difficulty, as the mechanism through which it is possible to escape from reality. What is intended in such a case is to generate a positive and reinforcing experience when life itself becomes hostile or unbearable. In such a way, imagined thoughts are resorted to with a playful or compensatory purpose, enriching memoriesThe children and adolescents are also able to enrich the memories that are treasured when the circumstances of the present do not allow a full satisfaction. Finally, children also use their imagination "playfully" when interacting with peers, and more particularly in what we know as symbolic play.
7. Creation of a self-image
People resort to imagination in order to forge a concrete meaning for themselves in relation to their social ties and the goals they seek to achieve. In this sense, it is perhaps the "ideal self" that has the most notable connections with the imagination, understood as the model or guide of behavior to which we aspire. People nurture the ideal self with numerous and disparate attributes, which would be followed by a behavior oriented to reduce the distances between this self and the "real self" (resulting in a better or worse self-esteem). It is for this reason that the imagination indirectly influences in an indirect way how we live and how we value ourselves, mediating its effects through the fulfillment of expectations.
Bibliographical references:
- Gendler, T. (2002). Review: The Work of the Imagination. Mind, 111, 414-418.
- Faranda, F. (2016). Image and Imagination: Deepening Our Experience of the Mind. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 36(8), 74-77.
(Updated at Apr 14 / 2024)