ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the studies which attempt to delineate the environments, the social milieus, the psychological structures and physical resources that facilitate the development of imaginative play. It examines some of the empirical evidence from the studies of the impact of the family on both imagination and creativity. In the 1960s on the wave of optimism and enthusiasm generated by the subject of creativity, a few interesting but sporadic studies were conducted on the personality characteristics and some of the postulated home background features of creative adults, adolescents, and children. By the mid-1970s, a whole new trend in psychological research had developed in the fields of imagination, mental imagery, and imaginative play. A basic assumption underlying the present approach is that an individual’s childhood environment can strongly influence the development or retardation of his or her creative potential. The mothers are also imaginative themselves, in that they tell stories, make up games, and endorse the creative aspects of childhood.
