Verbal and Nonverbal Imagination in First-Graders: Boys and Girls

Background. Although it is generally recognized that imagination at primary school age is closely related to the emotional, personal and cognitive development of the child, the features of imagination, and especially the specifics of the imagination in boys and girls studying at the first grade, have not been fully studied. Moreover, the studies devoted to this topic are few and their results are contradictory. Objectives. The aim is to identify the features of verbal and nonverbal imagination in first-graders of different sex. Study Participants. 259 first-graders aged 7.5 to 8.5 years from Moscow and Yakutsk (Mage = 8.0; SD = 0.31; 48.7% of participants were boys). Methods. To assess the imagination in first-graders, the “Complete the drawing” technique developed by O.M. Dyachenko and the “Using objects” subtest from the creative thinking test battery by E.E. Tunik were used. Results. It was found that boys give significantly more original answers than girls when performing tasks on verbal imagination (“Using objects” test). Girls receive significantly higher scores for the indicators of elaboration (detailing of drawings) and originality (frequency of using the inclusion method when creating drawings) and significantly lower scores for the originality coefficient (the difference between the child's drawing ideas and the ideas of other children in the class) than boys when performing tasks on nonverbal imagination (“Complete the drawing” technique). Different aspects of imagination (verbal and nonverbal) are less connected in boys than in girls. Conclusions. The imagination of first-graders of different sexes has distinctive features. Girls' imagination is more evident when solving non-verbal tasks, while boys' imagination is more evident when solving verbal tasks.