Dreams Unit 4

Reasons why we dream 1. Psychoanalytic: problem solving and psychological adjustment in “safe” unconscious state 2. Biological: repair of neurons through increased levels of protein synthesis 3. Cognitive: information processing, and the consolidation of memories

Dreams frequently occur in REM Cycle REM = a kind of sleep that occurs at intervals during the night -Characterized by rapid eye movements and faster pulse & breathing 15% REM awakenings fail to report dream 20% Non-REM do report dreaming at all Infants: unable to tell if they’re dreaming First dreams possibly occur at 2-3 years

Dream Recall On average we have slightly less than one dream per night recalled Some people recall 2-3 each night Some recall a dream every 4-6 months B. Experiments show visual memory correlates with dream recall

Discuss a dream that you remember having last night? Table Talk Discuss a dream that you remember having last night? A dream from last week? A dream from last month? What do you think the dream(s) meant?

Dream Recall… C. Freud: Repression Hypothesis Forgetting results of taboo content which is potentially threatening to ego Even remembered (manifest) content disguises unacceptable (latent/taboo) content

Dream Recall.. D. Salience hypothesis: emotional dreams are more easily recalled / remembered E. Interference hypothesis: events on awakening focus the attention away from the dream

Dream content Activation, synthesis, & hypothesis: - Neurological activity in sleep is accounted for by the dream, which is the brain’s way of explaining neural activity Does not explain coherence, detail, and purposefulness which is common of many dreams

Lucid Dreaming A dream in which the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming 15-28% of people can consciously alter the dreams content (change it mid dream) Physiological activity is significantly higher during lucid dreams

Dream Interpretation Theories range: “Royal Road to the Unconscious” = Freud Randomly generated from memory store Middle of the road view: dreams have meaning for dreamer, who may interpret them in personal ways No universal symbolism of dreams Meaningful to some, meaningless to others

Dream Interpretation… C. Meaning not necessarily hidden D. Dream journal may allow patterns to emerge E. Simple interpretations are usually the most helpful to determine a dreams meaning

Night Terrors Night terrors are most common in children (3-5 years) Children awaken in fear and disorientation that lasts 5+ minutes Child recalls little if any content the next day Occurs in stage 4 of sleep

Nightmares B. Nightmares Peak at 7-10 yrs - Common in adolescence, esp. in students with high stress Infrequent in adults, more associated with high stress Frequently occurs later in the night - During longer REM

Table Talk What are some of your worst nightmares? As a child or more recently. What are you most afraid of? How do you wake up feeling after you’ve experienced a nightmare? What makes you feel better / help you go back to sleep?