Rosenberg et al have theorized that in terms of imagination there is both an
internal and an external focus. Each activity or exercise that we present to children has both an internal and an external component. Here are some examples:
Sensory
activities: The external objective is to acquire various sensory experiences. The concomitant internal objective is to be able to recall and retrieve these experiences.
An
art experience. An external objective could be to manipulate materials such as color or fold. The similar internal process would be to manipulate color or fold the image (ie retrieve the white paper in one's mind and color it blue, green, or yellow etc.)
A
video experience. The external experience would be to learn to freeze-frame, fast-forward, or rewind. The parallel internal experience would be to fast-forward, freeze-frame, or rewind an experience in one's mind. Important: this experience may not only be video related but may also shape the way one manipulates the internal process of other experiences (ie "let's fast-forward through the episodes of our day today."
A
drama experience. An external experimentation with costumes focuses on trying on various costume pieces and can influence walking, talking, and character building. A parallel internal process can feature a child trying on various pieces in his mind's eye, combining them, changing them, and helping him acquire preference and an understanding that "clothes make the man."
A
music experience. An external experimentation with various instruments helps participants hear sounds, rhythm, and melody. The parallel internal experience helps kids hear sounds, compare sounds, play with pitch, expand rhythms etc.
A
science experience. An external experimentation with collecting information, categorizing it, comparing it, and contrasting it. An internal duplicate of this experience would involve the mental classification, comparison, and contrast of this information.
A
dance experience. An external experimenting with various forms of locomotion or with the dimensions of space. The parallel internal process might be to see oneself or feel oneself using various forms of locomotion in an imaginary space (i.e. outer space.)
Memory
vs: imagination images
A
memory image is an image in one's mind (an internal image) that is the recall of something that really happened or that really exists (ie the image of a soda can
An
imaginationimage is an internal image that is the combination and creation of an image that never completely existed in the here-and-now world (ie an extra-large soda can as a wastebasket.)
Students: Be prepared to discuss an activity, the external skills that it develops and the internal process that may result.