Imaginary companions and young children's responses to ambiguous auditory stimuli: implications for typical and atypical development.
Charles Fernyhough, Kirsten Bland, Elizabeth Meins, Max Coltheart
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry November 1, 2007 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01789.x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 80 |
| Population | Children aged 4-8 years |
| Topics | Tulpamancy |
| Key findings | Reporting hearing words in the Jumbled Speech task was associated with having a parentally corroborated imaginary companion. |
Abstract
Previous research has reported a link between imaginary companions (ICs) in middle childhood and the perception of verbal material in ambiguous auditory stimuli. These findings have been interpreted in terms of commonalities in the cognitive processes underlying children's engagement with ICs and adults' reporting of imaginary verbal experiences such as auditory verbal hallucinations. The aim of the present study was to examine these relations using improved methodology and a younger sample of children for whom engagement with ICs would be expected to be particularly salient. Data on young children's (age range: 4-8 years) reporting of ICs were gathered in two studies (total N = 80). Responses to ambiguous auditory stimuli were investigated using the new Jumbled Speech task, which measures participants' likelihood of perceiving words in meaningless but speech-like auditory stimuli. Reporting hearing words in the Jumbled Speech task was associated with having a parentally corroborated IC. Hearing words on the task and having an IC were unrelated to age, gender, verbal ability, and understanding of the stream of consciousness. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that engaging with ICs is one aspect of a general susceptibility to imaginary verbal experiences. We consider the implications for the assumption of continuity in psychopathological experiences between childhood and adulthood.
In the evidence
This study is part of the evidence base for a synthesis in the library. Here is how each one recorded it.
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State of the evidence: Tulpamancy Supports
Reporting hearing words in an ambiguous speech task was associated with having a parentally corroborated imaginary companion, consistent with a general susceptibility to imaginary verbal experiences.
Synthesized
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on tulpamancy, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulpas and Mental Health: A Study of Non-Traumagenic Plural Experiences Members of the online tulpa community | 2017 | Survey | |
| Personality Characteristics of Tulpamancers and Their Tulpas Individuals with tulpas | 2020 | Cross-sectional survey |
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- Rethinking Social Cognition in Light of Psychosis: Reciprocal Implications for Cognition and Psychopathology Clinical Psychological Science February 10, 2017
- Cognitive-Developmental Mechanisms in Hallucinations. Schizophrenia Bulletin October 6, 2025
- Susceptibility to auditory hallucinations is associated with spontaneous but not directed modulation of top-down expectations for speech Neuroscience of Consciousness February 1, 2022
- From phenomenology to neurophysiological understanding of hallucinations in children and adolescents. Schizophrenia Bulletin July 2014
- A comprehensive review of auditory verbal hallucinations: lifetime prevalence, correlates and mechanisms in healthy and clinical individuals. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
and 1 more in the library