Transcript Dreams

Dreams
 Do bébés (babies) dream?
 Do animals dream?
 Why don’t people
remember their dreams?
 Why do we dream?
I. Psychoanalytic Theory of Sigmund Freud
a. Dreams are disguised
symbols of unconscious
repressed desires
b. Wish-fulfillment for
instinctive, but socially or
personally unacceptable,
impulses to rise to the
surface of consciousness
c. Consist of the manifest
content – what you can
recall, and the latent
content – the “real” hidden
meaning
“Dreams are the royal road to the unconscious”
Examples: manifest
content of cigars,
trains, guns, unopened
umbrellas may latently
be phallic symbols
(representing male
genitals); circular
objects and cavities
such as boxes, and
tunnels represent
female anatomy
d. However, it may be only
“day residue” – leftover
memories of everyday
elements that enter our
dreams
e. It is the job of the
psychoanalyst to
interpret the content
f. Explains why we forget
dreams through the
repression hypothesis –
forgetting is a defensive
act to keep you from
facing your desires and
fears
g. Hard to scientifically test Freud’s theory
h. Criticized for too much emphasis on sex
II. Biological View: Activation-Synthesis
Theory (McCarley & Hobson) -
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Claims that dreams have no real psychological
significance, but are by-products of random
stimulation of brain cells
Activation – the pons sends nerve impulses for
various activities such as running, laughing,
hearing, etc.
Synthesis – the cortex areas associated with
these impulses try to make sense of this by
manufacturing dreams
c. Dreams are stories to keep ourselves asleep
d. May serve a function in learning and
memory, as well as brain development and
maintenance
e. No need to interpret dreams, since they are
biological in nature
f. Salience hypothesis – we forget the
dreams because they have little real
meaning and are psychologically
unimportant
g. Also, parts of the brain that are involved in
the formation of new memories are less
active
III. Cognitive View: “Problem Solving”
a. Dreams are a form of
information processing,
helping us sift and sort our
everyday experiences and
thoughts
b. People’s dreams reflect their
problems, and thus may
offer time to solve them
c. Dreams may be a time of
creativity and invention
Examples of Creativity
 Sewing machine’s
inventor claimed to be
inspired by a dream
 Jack Nicklaus discovered
a new golf grip
 Kekule discovered the
molecular structure of
benzene through a dream
 McCartney claims to have
written “Yesterday” from a
dream
d. People trying to change a behavior
(quit smoking, overeating, etc.)
often dream of doing the behavior
and feeling guilty; these people are
more likely to succeed in quitting –
known as the DAMIT experience
(Dreams of Absent MInded
Transgression)
e. You are the best person to interpret
the dream, since you best know the
problem
f. Interference hypothesis –
forgetting dreams is a normal
cognitive process; new dreams, and
thoughts when you awaken,
interfere with your memory