Dreams

Mr. KochAP Psychology

Forest Lake High School

Dreams• Most vivid dreams during REM sleep

– Everyone dreams every night• Daytime activities/experiences may

affect content• “lucid dreams” – aware of dreaming,

can control– Some simplistic dreaming may occur

in deeper sleep

• Questions to ponder:– What is a dream?– How is a dream made?– Why do we dream?

What do we dream about?• 95% said remember some of

dreams• 68% report recurring dream• Falling or being chased was most

common theme• Only 28% reported dying in a

dream• College students only reported

sexual content in 12% of dreams• Essentially no differences in

content of dreams when compared students from 1950 to 1980

• Have you ever dreamed of?...(college students)– Falling 83%– Being attacked/pursued 77%– Trying repeatedly to do something 71%– Schools, teachers, studying 71%– Sexual experiences 66%– Arriving too late 64%– Eating 62%– Being frozen with fright 58%– A loved person dying 57%– Being locked up 56%– Finding money 56%– Swimming 52%– Snakes 49%– Being inappropriately dressed 46%– Being smothered, unable to breathe 44%– Being nude 43%– Fire 41%– Failing an exam 39%– Seeing oneself as dead 33%– Killing someone 26%

Sigmund Freud

• Interpretation of Dreams (1900)

– Believed all dreams possess meaning, should be interpreted• Dreams are unconscious wishes

(“Wish Fulfillment Theory”)

Sigmund Freud• Dreams have 2 levels of meaning:– Manifest content – obvious dream event (the

“storyline”) – often ridiculous– Latent content – symbolic meaning, reveals events

in unconscious mind» Believed many had sexual meaning

Activation-Synthesis Theory• Hobson & McCarley– Extreme view – dreams are

meaningless byproduct of REM sleep• Hindbrain is aroused, activating brain

(esp. cortex) which uses memories/feelings to organize & make sense

Other perspectives

• Information Processing model– Dreaming helps organize,

maintain memory & thinking• Lack of REM sleep hurts

learning/memory

• Physiological functioning– Stimulation may help neural

development