Dream Theories

The Content of Dreams Research shows that the content of dreams is usually familiar. Common themes in dreams include things like falling, being pursued, trying repeatedly to do something, school, sex, being late, eating, being frightened, etc. Negative Emotional Content: 8 out of 10 dreams have negative emotional content. Failure Dreams: People commonly dream about failure, being attacked, pursued, rejected, or struck with misfortune. Sexual Dreams: Contrary to our thinking, sexual dreams are sparse. Sexual dreams in men are 1 in 10; and in women 1 in 30.

Why Do We Dream? Five Theories The Information-Processing Theory The Physiological Function Theory The Cognitive Theory The Activation-Synthesis Theory The Wish Fulfillment Theory

1) Information-Processing Theory Dreams may help sift, sort, understand, and fix a day’s experiences in our memories. They may also help us work out unsolved problems. We go to bed with a problem, and when we wake up the problem is solved (or forgotten, which may be a solution in itself). When we are under stress or depressed, we sleep longer, and the amount of time spent in REM increases. This fact strongly suggests that we are working on the things that are worrying us while we dream.

Dreams are more likely to contain material related to a person’s current concerns than chance would predict. Students dream about exams Instructors dream of forgetting lecture notes Males and females appear to dream about similar issues now that lives and concerns of the two sexes have become similar. Women children, clothes, household objects Men weapons, violence, sex, achievement

2) Physiological Function Theory Brain chemicals are used up during the day (notice how hard it is to study after a long, hard day). Because the brain cannot remain completely inactive while it replenishes these chemicals, dreams keep the brain busy with old material (versus new material, which takes more chemicals to process) while it is being “recharged.”

Dreams provide the sleeping brain with periodic stimulation to develop and preserve neural pathways. For example, the neural networks of newborns are quickly developing; therefore, they need more sleep.

3) Cognitive Development Theory Some researchers argue that we dream as a part of brain maturation and cognitive development. Children’s dreams appear to differ from those of adults: Preschool children report bland images with no story-lines when awoken from REM sleep (if they recall dreaming at all – children under the age of 9-11 report dreaming only 20-30% of the time when awoken from REM sleep, as opposed to an adult’s 80% of the time). Between 5 and 8, children begin to report dream narratives, but these are not well developed. Adult-like dreams develop at around 11-13, suggesting that dreaming is a cognitive ability that develops gradually.

4) The Activation-Synthesis Theory During the night, our brainstem releases random neural activity. The brain tries to make sense of the random bits and pieces of information that are appearing, so it makes up a “story” to fit them. At the same time, brain regions that handle logical thought and sensation from the external world are shut down. This would account for why we so often put odd things together in a dream.

5) Wish Fulfillment People in Western cultures pay little attention to dreams as meaningful messages in their lives, while people from many non-Western cultures are likely to view dreams as important information about themselves, the future, or the spiritual world. First and foremost in dream theory is Sigmund Freud. Considered the father of psychoanalysis Revolutionized the study of dreams with his book The Interpretation Of Dreams He called dreams “the royal road to the unconscious.”

BUT they get released in different ways by our unconscious According to Freud… We all have desires and urges that are not considered acceptable by society We hold these back – repress them BUT they get released in different ways by our unconscious One way is through our dreams

Freud’s Dream Theory: Wish Fulfillment Dreams function to virtually fulfill: Your unexpressed wishes Your ungratified needs Dreams are combinations of early and recent experiences involve childhood memories and early parental relationships

Freud’s View on How Our Minds Work: Manifest Your dreams have 2 levels: MANIFEST – what you actually dream about LATENT – what your dream really means ---- this is based on symbolism http://video.about.com/psychology/Sigmund-Freud-s-Id--Ego--and-Superego-Theory.htm Latent

So…What do Our Dreams Tell Us about Ourselves??? Dreams reveal what is going on in your unconscious Your unconscious can act out your hidden desires because you are asleep BUT – your desires can be so odd and disturbing that your mind might still “censor” them This results in your dreams being symbolic Your sleep isn’t disturbed and you don’t wake up as a result of being shocked about the images in your dreams It results in cryptic and confusing dreams, though

Dream Theories Summary