The Exploration of Indicators of Imagination

Although early studies in the fields of education and psychology appreciated the value of imagination, little work has been done pertaining to indicators of imagination. This study synthesized early works on imagination done between 1900 and 2011 to clarify its meaning and identify potential indicators. Then, two groups of samples were collected and validated through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. There were two dimensions and ten indicators of imagination that emerged during this inquiry. The first dimension is “creative imagination,” which includes the indicators of intuition, sensibility, productivity, exploration, and novelty. The second dimension is “reproductive imagination,” which includes the indicators of focusing, effectiveness, transformation, crystallization, and dialectics. The two dimensions reveal not only distinct differences that characterize their uniqueness, but also certain shared features. Some suggestions for future studies are also proposed.