The child's imagination is assessed by the degree of development of his fantasy, which in turn can manifest itself in stories, drawings, crafts and other products of creative activity. In this regard, the child is asked to complete three tasks:

1. Come up with a story (story, fairy tale) about any living creature (person, animal) or anything else of the child’s choice and present it orally within 5 minutes. Up to one minute is allotted for inventing a theme or plot of a story (story, fairy tale), and after that the child starts the story.

Method No. 4.1. "Verbal Fantasy"

(Speech imagination)

In the course of the story, the child's fantasy is evaluated on the following grounds:

1. Speed ​​of imagination processes.

2. Singularity, originality of images of the imagination.

3. Wealth of fantasy.

4. Depth and elaboration (detailing) of images.

5. Impressibility, emotionality of images.

For each of these features, the story gets from 0 to 2 points.

0 points are given when this feature is practically absent in the story. The story receives 1 point if this feature is present, but is relatively weakly expressed. The story earns 2 points when the corresponding feature is not only present, but also expressed quite strongly.

If within 1 min. The child did not come up with the plot of the story, then the experimenter himself prompts him to some plot and puts 0 points for the speed of imagination. If the child himself came up with the plot of the story by the end of the minute allotted for this, then by the speed of imagination he gets a score of 1 point. Finally, if the child managed to come up with the plot of the story very quickly, within the first 30 seconds of the allotted time, or if within 1 minute. He came up with not one, but at least two different plots, then on the basis of "speed of imagination processes" the child is given 2 points.

Unusualness, originality of images of the imagination is regarded in the following way.

If the child simply recounted what he once heard

Method No. 4.2. "Features of Active Imagination"

(“Magic Cardboards” by O.M. Dyachenko)

Material: 12 cards with the image of figures, pencil.

Experiment progress:

1. The subject receives one card at a time and examines them.

2. Instruction to the subject: “Look at the card. It has a figurine on it. Draw on this figure what you want, so that you get your own picture. Tell me what you drew.

All data is recorded in a table.

Figure number	Comments as you draw	Picture name	Explanation according to the drawing
Etc.

Processing of results.

Analyzed:

1. The moment of the beginning of drawing (immediately, thinking about options, etc.).

2. Is there a comment while drawing.

3. The nature of the commentary (in a word, detailed).

4. Whether the figure offered on the card is used.

5. Evaluation of the drawn.

Evaluation of results:

1st level. The subject does not accept the assignment. Does not use figurine. He draws what he can.

2nd level. The drawing is schematic, contour character, no details.

3rd level. Adds details to the figure.

4th level. Depicts a separate object, is included in some imaginary plot.

5th level. High-quality transformation of the figurine. Story picture.

The KOR coefficient (the degree of originality of the drawings) is calculated.

The number of qualitatively converted drawings is counted.

Reporting form:

1. Drawings of children.

2. Completed table.

3. Data processing protocol.

4. Conclusion about the features of active imagination.

S.Yu. Lazareva recommends pedagogical assessment to carry out the results of students' creative activity using the “Fantasy” scale developed by G.S. Altshuller to assess the presence of fantastic ideas and, thus, allowing to assess the level of imagination (the scale is adapted to the junior school question by M.S. Gafitulin, T.A. Sidorchuk) .

The “Fantasy” scale includes five indicators: novelty (assessed on a 4-level scale: copying an object (situation, phenomenon), a slight change in the prototype, obtaining a fundamentally new object (situation, phenomenon)); persuasiveness (convincing is a reasonable idea described by a child with sufficient certainty).

Data scientific works indicate that research in real life, is legitimate in the event that it is aimed at improving the educational environment in which the child is formed, contributing to social practice, at creating pedagogical conditions conducive to the development of creativity in the child.

1. Method "Verbal fantasy" (speech imagination).

The child is invited to come up with a story (story, fairy tale) about some living creature (person, animal) or about something else of the child's choice and present it orally within 5 minutes. Up to one minute is allotted for inventing a theme or plot of a story (story, fairy tale), and after that the child starts the story.

In the course of the story, the child's fantasy is evaluated on the following grounds:

speed of imagination processes;

unusualness, originality of images of the imagination;

richness of imagination;

depth and elaboration (detailing) of images; - impressionability, emotionality of images.

For each of these features, the story is evaluated from 0 to 2 points. 0 points are given when this feature is practically absent in the story. The story receives 1 point if this feature is present, but is relatively weakly expressed. The story earns 2 points when the corresponding feature is not only present, but also expressed quite strongly.

If within one minute the child did not come up with the plot of the story, then the experimenter himself prompts him to some plot and 0 points are put for the speed of imagination. If the child himself came up with the plot of the story by the end of the allotted time (1 minute), then according to the speed of imagination, he gets a score of 1 point. Finally, if the child managed to come up with the plot of the story very quickly, within the first 30 seconds, or if within one minute he came up with not one, but at least two different plots, then the child is given 2 points on the basis of “speed of imagination processes”.

Unusualness, originality of images of the imagination is regarded in the following way.

If the child simply retold what he once heard from someone or saw somewhere, then on this basis he gets 0 points. If the child retells the known, but at the same time introduced something new from himself, then the originality of his imagination is estimated at 1 point. In the event that the child came up with something that he could not see or hear somewhere before, then the originality of his imagination gets a score of 2 points. The richness of the child's fantasy is also manifested in the variety of images he uses. When evaluating this quality of imagination processes, it is fixed total number various living beings, objects, situations and actions, various characteristics and signs attributed to all this in the child's story. If the total number of the named exceeds ten, then the child receives 2 points for the richness of fantasy. If the total number of parts of the specified type is between 6 and 9, then the child receives 1 point. If there are few signs in the story, but in general not less than five, then the richness of the child's fantasy is estimated at 0 points.

The depth and elaboration of images is determined by how varied the details and characteristics are presented in the story related to the image that plays a key role or occupies a central place in the story. It also gives marks in a three-point system.

• The child receives 0 points when the central object of the story is depicted very schematically.
• 1 point - if, when describing the central object, its detailing is moderate.
• 2 points - if main image his story is painted in sufficient detail, with many different details characterizing him.

The impressionability or emotionality of images of the imagination is assessed by whether it arouses interest and emotions in the listener.

• 0 points - the images are of little interest, banal, do not impress the listener.
• 1 point - the images of the story cause some interest on the part of the listener and some emotional response, but this interest, together with the corresponding reaction, soon fades away.
• 2 points - the child used bright, very interesting images, the listener's attention to which, once having arisen, did not fade away, accompanied by emotional reactions such as surprise, admiration, fear, etc.

Thus, the maximum number of points that a child in this technique can receive for his imagination is 10, and the minimum is 0.

The flexibility of the imagination depends on the fixedness of ideas. The degree of fixation of images is determined by the number of drawings containing the same plot.

Imagination will flexible when the fixedness of the images in the representation is not reflected in the drawings, that is, all the drawings are on different subjects and cover both the inner and outer parts of the outline of a geometric figure.

fixedness representations weak and the flexibility of the imagination is average if two drawings are for the same subject.

strong fixation images in representation and inflexibility or rigidity imaginations are characterized by drawings on the same subject. If all the drawings have the same plot, regardless of their level of complexity, this is a rigid imagination.

The rigidity of the imagination can also be in the absence or weak fixation of images in the representation, when the drawings are made strictly within the contours of a geometric figure. In this case, the subject's attention is fixed on the inner space of the circuit.

Determination of the degree of stereotyped imagination

Stereotyping is determined by the content of the drawings. If the content of the drawing is typical, then the imagination, like the drawing itself, is considered stereotypical, if not typical, original, then creative.

TO typical drawings include drawings on the following subjects.

Drawings from circle outline: sun, flower, man, face of a person or hare, dial and clock, wheel, globe, snowman.

Drawings from triangle outline: a triangle and a prism, a house roof and a house, a pyramid, a man with a triangular head or torso, a letter, road sign.

Drawings from square outline: man with a square head or torso, robot, TV, house, window, augmented geometric figure square or cube, aquarium, napkin, letter.

The degree of stereotypy can be differentiated by levels.

High degree stereotypy is stated when all the drawings are on a typical plot.

Drawing is considered original, and the imagination is creative in the absence of stereotyping, when all the drawings are made by the subjects on atypical subjects.

Analysis of results

It is important to compare the results obtained with the features of the subject's involvement in the research process with his attitudes. For this, self-report data is used.

First of all, you need to pay attention to the subjects with the rigidity of the imagination. It can be the result of experienced stresses and affects. Very often, although not always, people who place all the drawings only inside the contours of geometric shapes have some mental illness. The drawings of such subjects are not discussed in the group. The teacher-psychologist registers such persons and recommends that they first contact the psychological service of the university for a special psychodiagnostic study. But at the same time, you need to use some kind of pretext so as not to injure the student's psyche with the alleged diagnosis.

Subjects with the fifth level of imagination complexity, the absence of stereotypes and high-quality execution of drawings are usually capable of artistic activity (graphics, painting, sculpture, etc.). Those who are inclined to technical sciences, drawing or logic and philosophy, can depict some abstractions or geometric shapes. In contrast, people with a humanitarian orientation love stories related to human activity, draw people, their faces or anthropomorphic objects.

When discussing the test results and making recommendations, it is necessary to establish conditions conducive to overcoming stereotypes, developing creativity, and identifying tasks for training the flexibility of the imagination process.

Task 3

Creative Imagination Exploration

Purpose of the study: evaluate the characteristics of creative imagination.

Material and equipment: forms with any three words printed on them, for example: hat, road, rain; standard sheets of paper, pen, stopwatch.

Questions for preparation:

Types of imagination and their features.

Individual features of the imagination.

Requirements for the experimental procedure.

Literature

Druzhinin V.N. Experimental psychology. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2000. - S. 203-207.

Maklakov A.G. General psychology. - St. Petersburg, 2001. - S. 286-294, 344-348.

Nemov R.S. Psychology. - M .: Education, 1995. - S. 232-239.

Semichenko V.A. Psychology: temperament. - Kiev, 2001. - S. 12-35.

General psychology / Ed. Petrovsky A.V. - M., 1976. - S. 405-417.

Laboratory work number 1. The study of individual characteristics of the imagination

Purpose of the study: determine the level of complexity of the imagination, the degree of fixation of ideas, the flexibility or rigidity of the imagination and the degree of its stereotype or originality.

Material and equipment: three sheets of paper measuring 10x16 cm without cells or rulers. On the first sheet in the middle is a contour equilateral triangle with a side length of 2.5 cm. On the third - the outline of a square with a side length of 2.5 cm. Pencil and stopwatch.

Research procedure

This study is carried out both with one subject and with a group. But it is better that the group is small, up to 15 people. In the latter case, the experimenter needs to ensure that none of the subjects speaks or shows their drawings to others until the end of the test.

Testing is carried out in three stages. At the first stage, the subject is given a piece of paper with the outline of a circle depicted on it, at the second - a triangle, and at the third - a square. Each stage of the study is preceded by a repeating instruction.

Test subject instructions: “Using the outline of the geometric figure shown on this sheet, draw a picture. The quality of the drawing does not matter. The way you use the outline is up to you. At the signal "Stop!" stop drawing."

The experimenter determines the drawing time at each stage using a stopwatch. In each case, it must be equal to 60 seconds.

At the end of testing, the subject is asked to give a self-report and for this they are asked: “Did you like the task? What feelings did you experience while doing it?

Results processing

Processing of the results and determination of the levels of development of the imagination, the degree of fixation of ideas, flexibility or rigidity, as well as originality or stereotyping, is carried out by comparing the content and analyzing all three drawings of the subject.

Determining the Level of Imagination Difficulty

The complexity of the imagination is ascertained by the most complex of the three drawings. You can use the scale, which makes it possible to set five levels of difficulty.

First level: the contour of a geometric figure is used as the main detail of the drawing, the drawing itself is simple, without additions and represents one figure.

Second level: the contour is used as the main detail, but the drawing itself has additional parts.

Third level: the contour is used as the main detail, and the drawing is a certain plot, while additional details can be introduced.

Fourth level: the contour of a geometric figure continues to be the main detail, but the drawing is already a complex plot with the addition of figures and details.

Fifth level: the drawing is a complex plot in which the contour of a geometric figure is used as one of the details.

Determining the flexibility of the imagination and the degree of fixation of images of representations

The flexibility of the imagination depends on the fixedness of ideas. The degree of fixation of images is determined by the number of drawings containing the same plot.

Imagination will flexible when the fixedness of the images of representations is not reflected in the drawings, that is, all the drawings are on different subjects and cover both the inner and outer parts of the outline of a geometric figure.

fixedness representations are weak and the flexibility of the imagination is average, if two drawings on the same plot.

strong fixation images in representation and inflexibility or rigidity imaginations are characterized by drawings on the same subject. If all the drawings have the same plot, regardless of their level of complexity, this is a rigid imagination.

The rigidity of the imagination can also be in the absence or weak fixation of images in the representation, when the drawings are made strictly within the contours of a geometric figure. In this case, the subject's attention is fixed on the inner space of the contour.

Determination of the degree of stereotyped imagination

Stereotyping is determined by the content of the drawings. If the content of the drawing is typical, then the imagination, like the drawing itself, is considered stereotypical, if not typical, then creative. Typical drawings include drawings on the following subjects.

Drawings from circle outline: sun, flower, man, face of a person or hare, dial and clock, wheel, globe, snowman. Drawings from triangle outline: triangle and prism, house roof and house, pyramid, man with triangular head or torso, letter, road sign. Drawings from square outline: a person with a square head or torso, a robot, a TV set, a house, a window, an augmented geometric figure of a square or a cube, an aquarium, a napkin, a letter.

The degree of stereotypy can be differentiated by levels.

A high degree of stereotype is ascertained when all the drawings are based on a typical plot.

Drawing is considered original, and the imagination is creative in the absence of stereotyping, when all the drawings are made by the subjects on atypical subjects.

Analysis of results

When evaluating the drawings, you can be guided by the examples below for determining the five levels of difficulty (see Figure 11). It is important to compare the results obtained with the features of the subject's involvement in the research process with his attitudes. For this, self-report data is used.

Figure 11

Assignment for independent work . Process and analyze the data of the experimental study of imagination and temperament (according to the given methods).

Test questions:

1. What features of the imagination can be determined by the studied method?

And forecasting the activity of the subject by creating a model of its final or intermediate product. This is possible due to the foresight of the means and results of objective activity. Imagination is necessary to create programs of human behavior in conditions of uncertainty of the situation, to produce images that replace real activity, and to create representations that correspond to descriptions of objects or their individual properties.

Imagination is based on ideas, first of all, on the images of objects and phenomena that have developed in the past experience of the subject and are remembered. But memory in presentation is different from ordinary reproduction. Representation is work on the internal psychological plane with images of the past, but with a change in form, content, connections.

The transformation of images of representations is carried out in any representative system of the psyche by means of agglutination, accentuation, typification, schematization, etc.

Thus, imagination is not just a kind of mental reflection, but a psychological construction of the properties of objects, phenomena, relationships.

Any creative activity is supported by imagination, which is the independent creation of new images, realized in original and valuable products.

Task 5.1. Study of the individual characteristics of the imagination 

Purpose of the study: determine the level of complexity of the imagination, the degree of fixation of ideas, the flexibility or rigidity of the imagination and the degree of its stereotype or originality.

Material and equipment: three sheets of paper measuring 10x16 cm without squares or rulers. On the first sheet in the middle there is a contour of a circle with a diameter of 2.5 cm. On the second sheet, also in the middle, there is a contour of an equilateral triangle with a side length of 2.5 cm. On the third sheet there is a contour of a square with a side length of 2.5 cm. Pencil and stopwatch.

Research procedure

This study is carried out both with one subject and with a group. But it is better that the group is small, up to 15 people. In the latter case, the experimenter needs to ensure that none of the subjects speaks or shows their drawings to others until the end of the test.

Testing is carried out in three stages. At the first stage, the subject is given a piece of paper with the outline of a circle depicted on it, at the second - a triangle, and at the third - a square. Each stage of the study is preceded by a repeating instruction.

Instruction to the subject: “Using the outline of the geometric figure shown on this sheet, draw a picture. The quality of the drawing does not matter. The way you use the outline is up to you. At the signal "Stop!" stop drawing."

The experimenter determines the drawing time at each stage using a stopwatch. In each case, it must be equal to 60 seconds.

At the end of testing, the subject is asked to give a self-report and for this they are asked: “Did you like the task? What feelings did you experience while doing it?

Processing of the results and determination of the levels of development of the imagination, the degree of fixation of ideas, flexibility or rigidity, as well as originality or stereotyping, is carried out by comparing the content and analyzing all three drawings of the subject.

Determining the Level of Imagination Difficulty

The complexity of the imagination is ascertained by the most complex of the three drawings. You can use the scale, which makes it possible to set five levels of difficulty.

First level: the contour of a geometric figure is used as the main detail of the drawing, the drawing itself is simple, without additions and is a single figure.

Second level: the outline is used as the main detail, but the drawing itself has additional parts.

Third level: the contour is used as the main detail, and the drawing represents some kind of plot, while additional details can be introduced.

Fourth level: the contour of a geometric figure continues to be the main detail, but the drawing is already a complex plot with the addition of figures and details.

Fifth level: the drawing is a complex plot in which the contour of a geometric figure is used as one of the details.
Determining the flexibility of the imagination and the degree of fixation of images of representations
The flexibility of the imagination depends on the fixedness of ideas. The degree of fixation of images is determined by the number of drawings containing the same plot.

The imagination will be flexible when the fixedness of the images in the representation is not reflected in the drawings, that is, all the drawings are on different subjects and cover both the inner and outer parts of the outline of a geometric figure.

1a - five levels of complexity of imagination; 1b - different degrees fixedness of images of representations.

F the fixedness of representations is weak and the flexibility of the imagination is average, if two drawings are on the same plot. The strong fixation of images in the representation and the inflexibility or rigidity of the imagination are characterized by drawings on the same subject. If all the drawings have the same plot, regardless of their level of complexity, this is a rigid imagination.

The rigidity of the imagination can also be in the absence or weak fixation of images in the representation, when the drawings are made strictly within the contours of a geometric figure. In this case, the subject's attention is fixed on the inner space of the circuit.

Determination of the degree of stereotyped imagination

Stereotyping is determined by the content of the drawings. If the content of the drawing is typical, then the imagination, like the drawing itself, is considered stereotypical, if not typical, original, then creative.

Typical drawings include drawings on the following subjects.

Circle outline drawings: sun, flower, human, human or hare face, dial and clock, wheel, globe, snowman.

Triangle outline drawings: triangle, prism, house roof and house, pyramid, man with triangular head or torso, letter, road sign.

Drawings with a square outline: a person with a square head or torso, a robot, a TV set, a house, a window, an augmented geometric figure of a square or cube, aquarium, napkin, letter.

The degree of stereotypy can be differentiated by levels.

A high degree of stereotype is ascertained when all the drawings are based on a typical plot.

The drawing is considered original, and the imagination is considered creative in the absence of stereotyping, when all the drawings are made by the subject for atypical subjects.

Processing and analysis of results

It is important to compare the results obtained with the features of the subject's involvement in the research process with his attitudes. For this, self-report data is used.