The development of imagination in typically developing children and in children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

The cognitive development of imagination in children is investigated by examining the role of three theoretical accounts of autism: theory of mind, executive function, and weak central coherence. Study 1 found theory of mind and verbal mental age to be most strongly related to the inclusion of imaginative features in the drawings of typically developing 5- to- 6-year olds. Study 2 compared the performance of 28 children with autism spectrum disorder with 28 typically developing children individually matched on verbal mental age. In both typically developing children and children with autism, theory of mind and verbal mental age were consistently significantly related to imagination. Mediation analyses hinted that verbal menial age, language comprehension and generativity have an effect on imagination through the theory of mind facility in children with autism. The results of both studies are suggestive of the importance of theory of mind for the development of imagination. Theoretical and methodological implications of such results are discussed. The implications for future research in terms of sample diversity, using a wider variety of tests, and adopting longitudinal approaches are also discussed.