Bellringer
Look over your dream journal
Do you see any patterns? Did you have the same
dream or type of dream more than once? Do
you think your dreams mean something? Pick
one dream or aspect of a dream and explain
what you think it means.
Dreams
If woken from REM dreaming reported 78% of the
time
Most of the time people do not know they are
dreaming
Lucid dreams-awareness of dreaming (not common)
Dream theories
1. Wish Fulfillment
Psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud
Dreams are disguised wishes of the
unconscious mind
Dreams constructed to express desires in
confusing symbolic manner to protect
dreamer
Meaning of dream is hidden
2. Off-line dream theory
Dreaming consolidates and stores
information gathered during the day to
allow the brain to work more efficiently
People spend more time in REM sleep
after learning difficult material
Less learning occurs if denied REM sleep
3. Activation –synthesis
theory
Dreams are the forebrain’s attempt to
interpret random neural activity coming
from the midbrain during sleep
Content related to your daily experiences
but dreams have no real hidden meaning