Imaginary companions and young children's responses to ambiguous auditory stimuli: implications for typical and atypical development.
Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines November 1, 2007 Charles Fernyhough, Kirsten Bland, Elizabeth Meins et al.
Having an imaginary companion in early childhood is linked to a greater tendency to hear words in meaningless, speech-like sounds. In two studies with 80 children aged 4 to 8 years, those whose parents confirmed they had an imaginary companion were more likely to report hearing words in a new Jumbled Speech task. This association held regardless of the child's age, gender, verbal ability, or understanding of the stream of consciousness. The findings suggest that engaging with imaginary companions reflects a broader susceptibility to imaginary verbal experiences, supporting the idea of continuity between childhood experiences and adult phenomena such as auditory verbal hallucinations.