Elizabeth Boerger

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania | SRU · Department of Psychology

Fantasy proneness has recently been related to creative thinking. To try and explain this link, we examined whether the relation was mediated by Openness to Experience (openness) because fantasy proneness and openness involve an imaginative thinking style. Study 1 assessed fantasy proneness (Creative Experiences Questionnaire), openness, and creati...

Fantasy proneness has recently been related to creative thinking. To try and explain this link, we examined whether the relation was mediated by Openness to Experience (openness) because fantasy proneness and openness involve an imaginative thinking style. Study 1 assessed fantasy proneness (Creative Experiences Questionnaire), openness, and creati...

This chapter explores the relation between imagination and creativity, with an emphasis on its origins and development. We discuss different models of creativity, debates about its nature, and different ways of measuring both imagination and creativity. The bulk of the chapter reviews empirical studies with children, both correlational and experime...

Two studies assessed whether children share with adults a concept of fantasy figures as entities that violate causal principles. Inferences about the characteristics of humans and fantasy figures were elicited with a forced-choice questionnaire. Items from the biological, psychological, and physical domains pitted possible against impossible abilit...

Recent research indicates that preschoolers make sophisticated choices in accepting testimony as a source of knowledge. Nonetheless, many children accept fantastical beings as real based on misleading testimony. The present study probes factors associated with belief in a novel fantastical figure, the Candy Witch, that 3- to 7-year-olds heard about...

Previous research (Woolley & Boerger, 2002) indicated that many young adults, especially women, believe in the possibility of controlling dreams. This lay perspective contrasts with philosophical descriptions of dreams as passive, undirected mental activity (e.g., Flanagan, 2000; Hobson, 2002). The present study sought to replicate Woolley and Boer...

In 3 studies we addressed the operation of constraints on children's causal judg- ments. Our primary focus was whether children's beliefs about magical causality, specifically wishing, are constrained by features that govern the attribution of ordi- nary causality. In Experiment 1, children witnessed situations in which a confeder- ate's wish appea...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. Supervisor: Jacqueline D. Woolley. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Requires PDF file reader.

Factors hypothesized to affect beliefs in fantastical beings were examined by introducing children to a novel fantastical entity, the Candy Witch. Results revealed that among older preschoolers, children who were visited by the Candy Witch exhibited stronger beliefs in the Candy Witch than did those who were not. Among children who were visited, ol...

Factors hypothesized to affect beliefs in fantastical beings were examined by introducing children to a novel fantastical entity, the Candy Witch. Results revealed that among older preschoolers, children who were visited by the Candy Witch exhibited stronger beliefs in the Candy Witch than did those who were not. Among children who were visited, ol...

In three studies the authors investigated the development of beliefs about dreaming. Study 1 assessed 3- to 5-year-old children's beliefs about the origins and controllability of dreams. Results revealed significant changes in children's beliefs about the roles of behavioral experiences and mental processes in the generation of dream content. Resul...

In three studies the authors investigated the development of beliefs about dreaming. Study 1 assessed 3-to 5-year-old children's beliefs about the origins and controllability of dreams. Results revealed significant changes in children's beliefs about the roles of behavioral experiences and mental processes in the generation of dream content. Result...

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