Mr. Koch AP Psychology Forest Lake High School Dreams Mr. Koch AP Psychology Forest Lake High School

Dreams Most vivid dreams during REM sleep Questions to ponder: 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? 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% 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

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