Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

Dreams and Mental Activity During Sleep149Dream Themes and ImageryThe Golden Horse in the CloudsThe popular stereotype is that very weird and highly emotional dreams are thenorm. Granted, almost everyone can remember having had a really bizarre,rapidly shifting dream at some time or another. But research on dream contentshows that bizarre dream stories tend to be the exception, not the rule.As psychologist William Domhoff (2007) explains:A wide range of studies in both laboratory and non-laboratory settings shows thatdreams are far more coherent, patterned, and thoughtful than is suggested by the usualimage of them. Rather than bizarre, dreams are, by and large, a realistic simulation ofwaking life. At the same time, there are aspects of dream content that are unusual andperhaps nonsensical. Nevertheless, controlled laboratory studies reveal that dreams areoverwhelmingly about everyday settings, people, activities, and events, with only a relativelysmall amount of bizarreness.So if dreams are reasonable reflections of the dreamer’s waking world, whatabout unlikely or impossible events that are supposedly very common themes,such as dreaming that you are naked in a public place, flying through the airunder your own power, wandering around lost, or tumbling through space?Common student dream themes supposedly include failing an exam or beingcompletely unprepared in class. Are such dream themes really that common?Apparently not. In reviewing studies of dream content, Domhoff (2005) hasconcluded that so-called common dream themes are actually quite rare in dreamreports. Although dream story details may be original in that the events have never“Look, don’t try to weasel out of this. It was mydream, but you had the affair in it.”© 2006 Robert Mankoff fromcartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.IN FOCUSWhat You Really Want to Know About DreamsIf I fall off a cliff in my dreams and don’t wakeup before I hit the bottom, will I die?The first obvious problem with this bit of folklore is thatif you did die before you woke up, how would anyoneknow what you’d been dreaming about? Beyond thisbasic contradiction, studies have shown that about athird of dreamers can recall a dream in which they diedor were killed.Do animals dream?Virtually all mammals experience sleep cycles in which REMsleep alternates with slow-wave NREM sleep. Animals clearlydemonstrate perception and memory. They also communicateusing vocalizations, facial expressions, posture, and gesturesto show territoriality and sexual receptiveness. Thus, it’s quitereasonable to conclude that the brain and other physiologicalchanges that occur during animal REM sleep are coupled withmental images.What do blind people “see” when they dream?People who become totally blind before the age of 5 typically donot have visual dreams as adults. Even so, their dreams are justas complex and vivid as sighted people’s dreams; they justinvolve other sensations—of sound, taste, smell, and touch.Is it possible to control your dreams?Yes, if you have lucid dreams. A lucid dream is one in whichyou become aware that you are dreaming while you are stillasleep. About half of all people can recall at least one luciddream, and some people frequently have lucid dreams. Thedreamer can often consciously guide the course of a luciddream, including backing it up and making it go in a differentdirection.Can you predict the future with your dreams?History is filled with stories of dream prophecies. Over the courseof your life, you will have over 100,000 dreams. Simply bychance, it’s not surprising that every now and then a dream containselements that coincide with future events.Are dreams in color or black and white?Up to 80 percent of our dreams contain color. When dreamersare awakened and asked to match dream colors to standardcolor charts, soft pastel colors are frequently chosen.Sources: Anch & others (1988); Blackmore (1998); Empson (2002); Halliday (1995);Hobson (2004); Hurovitz & others (1999); Schatzman & Fenwick (1994); Weinstein &others (1991).