DREAMS…
WHAT DO THEY MEAN???
DREAM THEORIES
Information-Processing
Dreams
sift, sort and fix the
day’s experiences into
memory
REM sleep facilitates memory
Evidence
People who get more REM sleep
have higher scores on memory
exams
Physiological Theory
 Dreams
provide the sleeping brain with
periodic stimulation that helps preserve
brain’s neural pathways
 Evidence-
Infants spend more time in
REM sleep than older people
Cognitive Theory
 Dreams
are a natural part of brain
maturation and development
 They draw on our working concepts and
knowledge
 Evidence-
The dreams of small children
are more like a slide show.
Problem Solving Theory
 Dreams
are the continuity of
waking thought but in dreams you
are not constrained by logic or
realism like you are when you are
awake
Evidence
People self-report that they solve
problems in their dreams
SIGMUND FREUD
 Manifest
Content: The story line of
the dream
 Latent Content: The hidden meaning
(symbols) within the dream (This is
what Freud was really interested in)
 Dreams are key to understanding
inner-conflict
FREUD
 Carl
Jung (Freud’s student) picked up
and expanded where Freud left off
 Jung believed that you could
“decode” your dreams
Evidence
 There
is no scientific evidence for this
theory.
Activation-Synthesis Theory
 Dreams
are a product of activity from pons
and/or brainstem
 Cerebral Cortex attempts to make sense
of neuron firings by creating a story
 DREAMS HAVE NO MEANING!
Evidence
 PET
scans and other imaging techniques
provide evidence for this.