imagination
Let an agent explain imagination by psychology, variation, uses and development, support creative practice, and attribute claims about artificial imagination.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Science Research.
Mechanism
How it works.
Mechanism
Mechanisms.
- What does cognitive science say about how imagination works? provenance
- Which brain networks are involved, according to studies? provenance
Variation
Aphantasia.
Variation
Imagery variation.
- What is aphantasia, and how common is it, according to research? provenance
- Is it considered a disorder? boundary
Creativity Using imagination.
Exercises
Creative exercises.
Exercises
Creative exercises.
- Which exercises help develop imaginative writing or art? action
- How can they be adapted for different people? action
Children
Imaginative play.
Children
Imaginative play.
- What does research say about imaginative play in child development? provenance
- How can adults support it? action
AI Artificial imagination.
Claims
AI claims.
Claims
AI claims.
- Who describes generative AI as imaginative, and what do critics say? provenance
- Is the comparison with human imagination justified? boundary
Use
Creative tools.
Use
Creative tools.
- How can generative tools support human creativity responsibly? action
- Which rights issues arise? boundary
Well-being Imagination and mind.
Rumination
Worry.
Rumination
Worry and rumination.
- Is imagination fuelling distressing worry or intrusive images? boundary
- Which support or professional help is appropriate? action
Escapism
Escapist fantasy.
Escapism
Escapism.
- What is bovarysm, and how is escapist fantasy discussed in literature and psychology? provenance
- When might it signal a need for support? boundary
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Activities and processes
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- ACT
- Domain
- ACT.PRC
- Other names and narrower kinds
- bovarysme, visual imagination, artificial imagination
What it is Filled
The capacity to form mental images, ideas and scenarios that are not present to the senses, used in creativity, planning, empathy and play; people vary widely in imagery, from vivid imagery to aphantasia, and the term is also applied to generative capabilities of artificial systems.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent explain imagination by psychology, variation, uses and development, support creative practice, and attribute claims about artificial imagination.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Generates non-present content
- Varies among people
- Supports creativity and planning
- Studied in psychology and neuroscience
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Present imagined or generated content as fact or as a real event.
- Treat a person with aphantasia or vivid imagery as deficient or disordered.
- Use imaginative scenarios to manipulate a person into decisions against their interest.
- Claim that an artificial system imagines in the human sense without stating the limits of the comparison.
Only with a human decision
- Using imagined scenarios in therapy or with children.
May
- Help a person develop ideas, stories or scenarios they have asked for.
- Explain research on imagination and individual differences such as aphantasia.
Moral aspects Filled
- Imagination underlies empathy and creativity; dismissing variation in it can stigmatise people.
- Generated content presented as imagination can blur the line between fiction and fact.
Who is affected
- People whose imagination differs
- Audiences of imagined content
- Creators
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns the capacity; each person answers for what they imagine and share.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q781413 - registry parent class
related
- cognitive process - category
- mental process - broader concept
- creativity - function
- perception - related process
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.imagination
- Wikidata: Q34516 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34516)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Mental imagery and daydreams
- Creative outputs
- Hallucinations are perceptions without stimuli, not voluntary imagery
- Not physical; expressed in stories, art, plans and reported mental images.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain research on imagination and imagery
- describe aphantasia and hyperphantasia
- support creative exercises
- discuss artificial imagination with attribution
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Treating aphantasia as a disorder without evidence
- Overstating AI imagination claims
- Confusing imagination with hallucination
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Research ethics for human participants
Context of use required Filled
- Creativity, problem-solving, learning and wellbeing.
- visual and sensory imagination
- creative imagination
- counterfactual and prospective thinking
- aphantasia and hyperphantasia
- artificial imagination (attributed)
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q34516: imagination - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Imagination - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should imagery variation be a separate entry?
- How should research be linked?
- How should AI claims be attributed?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q34516/spec.json