CONSCIOUSNESS

136 3. Cognitive Sciences and Psychology
ing from constructive to detrimental mental acts. Specifically, the analysis by the method of
grounded theory (Glaser, 1987) showed that the tactics and maneuvers of nocturnal strategizing
take place within the context of self-preservation, and in intrapersonal, interpersonal, and
inter-object relationship. The phenomenon of nocturnal cognitive problem-sovling consists
of three distinct modalities – direct, self-monitoring, and indirect – with unique categories
and properties that represent mind and brain in a problem-solving mode during dreaming
(Kozmova, 2008). The presentation focuses on offering rich, descriptive view of the extent of
executive function that operates during dreaming: It displays the categories of modalities that
represent the phenomenon of nocturnal cognitive problem-solving. The scope of cognitive
strategies and skills individuals are capable of using when confronted with and when working
toward resolving intriguing problems or threatening situations, both self-imposed or occuring
during the scenario of dream then challenges the notion of proposed “severe limitation of
thought” in REM sleep and dreaming (Hobson, 2009, p. 805). The evidence and the extent of
executive cognitive strategies also raise the questions about the secondary consciousness in
relationship to theory of protoconsiousness (Hobson, 2009). C11
185 Disturbed Dreaming: How Everyday Dreams Turn into Nightmares
Antonio Zadra , Genevieve Robert (Psychology, University
of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec Canada)
Although numerous studies have investigated different aspects of nightmares, (e.g., frequency,
association to measures of psychopathology, treatment approaches), surprisingly
little is known about why some dreams unfold into nightmares and very little data exist on
nightmares’ actual thematic content. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the content
of adult nightmares using a range of objective content analysis systems. Aspects of the
nightmares investigated included commonly reported nightmare themes, triggers that contribute
to turning dreams into nightmares, the narrative development of nightmare reports, their
emotional content, and presumed causes of awakening. Written nightmare reports containing
25 words or more were obtained from 2-4 week dream logs collected for a series of studies
on dream content and personality. To avoid an overrepresentation of nightmares from individuals
reporting many nightmares, a maximum of two nightmares were randomly selected
from each participant’s dream log. The current sample included 158 nightmares with mean
length of 156 words (SD = 126) reported by 18 men and 102 women (mean age 32.0, SD =
11.2 years). The most frequently reported themes included physical aggression (30%), interpersonal
conflicts (20%), being chased (6%), failure or helplessness (6%), health-related
concerns (6%), presence of an evil force (5%), death of the dreamer or other character (4%),
and accidents (4%). Most nightmare reports began as banal, neutral or mildly negative dreams
and became distressing nightmares during the first third (65.8%), middle portion (26.6%),
or final third (7.6%) of the dream narrative. Elements identified as being responsible for the
dream becoming a nightmare include external events (69.6%), emotions (13.9%), cognitions
(5.7%) or a combination of these factors (e.g., 7% event + emotion). As expected, a majority
of nightmares (74%) contained an unfortunate ending (e.g., dreamer being injured, dreamer
losing control of a key situation, death of a character), but some also ended with either partially
(21%) or fully (5%) positive outcomes (e.g., dreamer takes control of the situation,
dreamer becomes lucid, dreamer is saved). Finally, the most frequently reported reasons for
the dreamer awakening from the nightmare were: facing a severe and imminent danger (38%),
being overwhelmed by emotions (36%), and voluntary decision to wake up (8%). Striking
gender differences were observed in several of content variables, most notably on the nightmares’
thematic content. Taken together, the present findings show that contrary to popular
belief and many clinical case reports, prospectively collected nightmares can contain a wide
range of themes beyond those of pursuit and physical aggression. Significant variability also
exists in the actual narrative structure of nightmare reports. These results have implications
for recently proposed theoretical models of nightmare occurrence and clinical views of how
nightmares unfold. C11