Dear Amalya Sukiasyan , I'd hazard to say that scientific imagination is the expression of the cultural and personal influences of the researcher which sometimes slips through the scientific education and distinguishes the very good scientists (ability to allow the non-scientific to affect the mundane Kuhnian puzzles situation) from the more mainstream scientists who are afraid to open the door to the non-scientific and hence cannot come up with novel solutions. For example, think of how many scientists having grown up watching Star Trek for one scientist to make a breakthrough in using warp drive :)

Dear Haris Shekeris, thank you for your response. Yes, socio-cultural influences play an important role in shaping creative and scientific imagination. Just as society benefits from science and its practical implications for the betterment of the world, science, in turn, can be enriched by individual and societal influences. As Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."