Exploring the Dream World

Question 1

Define: Lucid Dreams

Answer 1

-dreams in which the dreamer is aware of dreaming

Question 2

Who was the first theorist to take dreams seriously?

Answer 2

-Sigmund Freud

Question 3

According to Freud, what are dreams?

Answer 3

• unconscious desires, motives, and conflicts

- a dream resembles psychosis, a mechanism to keep our anxiety at bay

Question 4

According to Freud, how can we understand our dreams?

Answer 4

By separating the…

• manifest content (aspects remembered upon waking)
• latent content (wishes and thoughts expressed symbolically)
• analyzing in the context of our life, and our association with the dream’s contents

Question 5

What are the 4 approaches to the interpretation of dreaming?

Answer 5

• dreams as unconscious wishes (Freud)
• cognitive approach to dreams
• dreams dealing with and solving problems
• dreams as interpreted brain activity

Question 6

Explain: problem-focused approach to dreams

Answer 6

• dreams reflect conscious preoccupations with waking life

- symbols and metaphors do not disguise, but convey true meaning

Question 7

Explain: cognitive approach to dreams

Answer 7

• brain does the same work dreaming as it does waking, except…
• we are cut off from sensory input (outside world, physical movements)
• the only input to the brain is its own output
• we are most likely to dream about topics occupying our waking thoughts
• does not make claims of problem solving

Question 8

Explain: interpreted brain activity approach to dreams

Answer 8

activation synthesis theory…

• dreams are result of spontaneous random firing of neurons in the pons (resulting in incoherent dreams)
• cerebral cortex tries to synthesize signals (interpret)
• we forget dreams upon wakening because neurons that control memory storage are turned off during sleep
• brain mechanisms cause dreams, instead of wishes

Question 9

What are modern modifications of the Activation-Synthesis Theory?

Answer 9

-brain stem sets off responses in emotional and visual parts of the brain, while simultaneously, brain regions for logical thought and external sensations shut down

Question 10

Drawback of: Freud’s dream theory

Answer 10

• there is no way to know whether an interpretation is correct
• no reliable dream interpretation rules exist

Question 11

Drawback of: problem-focused approach to dreaming

Answer 11

-insights into people’s problems could occur after they wake up and have a chance to think about their own problems

Question 12

Drawback of: interpreted brain activity approach to dreaming

Answer 12

• not all dreams are as disjointed as theory predicts

- theory does not account for dreams outside REM sleep

Question 13

Why is the cognitive approach to dreaming a leading contender?

Answer 13

• integrates other theories

- fairly new, claims remain to be tested