Specifying the Relation between Imagination and Pretense

Imagine and pretend are often used interchangeably, both in everyday speech and in scientific literature, meaning that potential differences between imagination and pretense and the relation between the two have been under-specified in extant theories. We argue that imagination and pretense are separable mental processes: specifically, pretense is used to create unreal structures or alternative worlds, whereas imagination is used to create unreal content in both real and pretend worlds. Thus, imagination is always employed within pretense, but pretense is not required for imagination. They also differ in their relations to embodiment, time, and perception of agency. These distinctions have implications for our understanding of the developmental paths of imagination and pretense, the contexts in which imagination and pretense might be conducive to learning, and the consequences of pretending versus imagining emotional content. Given the ubiquity of imagination and pretense, taking the differences between these two processes seriously could generate fruitful lines of scientific inquiry.