The ability of children with imaginary companions to differentiate between fantasy and reality

This study investigated the ability of children with and without imaginary companions (N = 80) aged 4-8 years to differentiate fantasy from reality. Following children's descriptions of a monster, a monster-shaped silhouette was unexpectedly projected in the room. Video-recordings of each child's reaction to the silhouette and responses to a subsequent series of questions indicated chat a significantly larger number of imaginary companion than non-imaginary companion children thought that an imaginary entity could be reflected in reality. However, as a number of non-imaginary companion children also thought chat an imaginary entity could be reflected in reality, differences in children's level of credulity, rather than the presence or absence of the imaginary companion, was considered to account for the fantasy-reality confusion.