The definition of imagination in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2011) is as follows: “An act or power of
forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality;
creative ability; fanciful or empty assumption.” This concept of image synthesis is also mentioned in the
definition of imagination in The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (2008): “Most directly, the faculty of reviving
or especially creating images in the mind’s eye. But more generally, the ability to create and rehearse possible
situations, to combine knowledge in unusual ways, or to invent thought experiments.” In this study,
“imagination” thus refers to “the process of transforming the inner imagery of students when they face a given
assignment.” Such images are usually developed from an individual’s memory of images and shaped into
something new.
IMAGINATION INDICATOR
Betts (1916) contended that the activities of human imagination can be classified into two different categories:
reproductive imagination and creative imagination. Reproductive imagination is the type of imagination people
use to reproduce in their minds either images described by others or images from their own experience which
lack the completeness and fidelity to make them true memories. In more advanced levels of development,
creative imagination emphasizes the attributes of initiation and originality. Creative imagination is the function
which is present in the great discoveries and achievements of humankind’s scientific, artistic, literary and
technological revolutions (Colello, 2007). From the related literature, nine indicators were compiled to assess
human imagination. These indicators are transformation, crystallization, effectiveness, elaboration, exploration,
intuition, novelty, productivity, and sensibility. The account of each indicator is presented as follows.