Psychology Chapter 5

Section 3: Exploring the Dream World

Dreaming

• The focus of attention is inward, though occasionally an external event, such as a wailing siren, can influence the dream's content.

• While a dream is in progress, it may be vivid or vague, terrifying or peaceful.

• It may also seem to make perfect sense-until you wake up. Then it is often recalled as illogical, bizarre, & disjointed.

• Most of us are unaware of our bodies or where we are while we are dreaming.

• Some people report having lucid dreams, in which they know they are dreaming and feel as though they are conscious.

• A few say that they can control the action in these dreams.

Why Do We Dream?

• Why do the images in dreams arise at all?

• Why doesn't the brain just rest, switching off all thoughts & images & launching us into a coma?

• Theories–No purpose–Carl Jung- to compensate for

those parts of our personality that aren’t totally developed

Dreams as Unconscious Wishes

• Sigmund Freud–Nighttime fantasies provide insight into

desires, motives, & conflicts of which we are unaware

–Able to express our unconscious wishes & desires (often sexual or violent)

–Every dream is meaningful

• Must distinguish its manifest content (aspects of it that we consciously experience during sleep & may remember upon wakening) from its latent content (conscious wishes being expresses symbolically)

• Each dream had to be analyzed in the context of the dreamer’s waking life–NOT everything is symbolic

Dreams as Reflections of Current Concerns

• Dreams reflect the ongoing conscious preoccupations of waking life–Problem focused approach- symbols &

metaphors in a dream do NOT disguise its true meaning, they convey it

• Dreams are more likely to contain material related to a person’s current concerns

• Dreams also provide us with an opportunity to resolve them

Dreams as a By-Product of Mental Housekeeping

• Unnecessary neural connections in the brain are eliminated & important ones are strengthened

• Brain must periodically shut out sensory input so that it can process & assimilate new data & update what had already been stored

• Divided new information into “wanted” & “unwanted” categories

• Francis Crick & Graene Mitchison–Dreams are merely mental garbage & there

is no point in trying to remember or analyze them

• When deprived of REM sleep memories are impaired

Dreams as Interpreted Brain Activity

• Activation synthesis theory–Dreams are the result of neurons firing

spontaneously in the lower part of the brain (pons) during REM

• The original signals have no meaning but the cortex tries to make sense of them by synthesizing them with existing knowledge & memories to produce a coherent interpretation

Evaluating Dream Theories

• Most agree that dreams are more than incoherent ramblings & they do have psychological meaning–No reliable rules for interpretation

Dream Analysis

• Death–Upcoming wedding–Birth–End of a cycle, something is finally

over

• Falling–Loss of honor–Fear of failure–Loss of power & feeling out of

control–If you are injured in the fall you will

lose many friends

Dreaming in color

• Black- isolation• Blue- inner peace• Brown- freedom, success, $$• Gray- transitional period• Orange- passion• Yellow- self confidence

Do blind people dream?

• NO • The experience of vision

needs to occur first before it can be translated into a dream

Tips to sleep better

• Maintain a regular schedule• Establish a relaxing routine• Create an environment that is dark,

quiet, comfortable, & cool• Sleep on a mattress & pillows that are

comfortable

• Use your bedroom only for sleep• Don’t eat or sleep 2-3 hours before

bedtime• Exercise regularly• Avoid caffeine, nicotine, & alcohol

close to bedtime

Bizarre Sleep Activities

• Sleep Murder• In 1981, Steven Steinberg from Arizona

experienced a sleepwalking episode – during which, he stabbed his wife 26 times with a kitchen knife – he admitted to killing his wife but pleaded “Not Guilty” in the ensuing court case – as he was not consciously aware of his actions – and was in a “dissociative” mental state at the time.

• A jury found Steinberg not guilty on the grounds that he was temporarily insane when he had killed her. However, because he was deemed “sane” at the time of his acquittal, Steinberg walked out of court a free man.

• Before you get any ideas….the law has since been changed to institutionalise “insane” murderers

•

Sleep Emailing• In November 2008, the Medical Journal – Sleep Medicine

reported that researchers from the University of Toledo had a case of a 44 year old woman who had sent three bizarre emails in her sleep.

• They were typed in a mixture of both upper and lower case text.– Email 1 – “Come tomorrow and sort this hell hole out.

Dinner and drinks, 4.pm,. Bring wine and caviar only.”– Email 2 – “What the…….”

• Details of the third were not published – but noted to be in a strange language!

• The woman only became aware of what she had done the following day when she received a reply to email 1.

Extreme Sleep Walking• Sleepwalking (also known as somnambulism) is a relatively common

occurrence, particularly in children.• Sleep walking can lead people into life threatening situations• The case of Rab Wood from Fife Scotland• “I had had a near miss, I was on holiday in Spain and I was nine floors

up in a hotel. During the night I got up and started sleepwalking – Just as I got my leg over the banister my wife pulled me back.”

• In 1999, a seven year old boy miraculously survived after he sleepwalked off a second floor balcony, whilst on holiday in Greece

• In 2006 a nine year old girls suffers minor injuries after sleepwalking and falling 30ft out of an attic window

• In 2008 a nineteen year old man sleepwalked to his death from a balcony in Minorca

Sleep Driving• Sleep driving is a relatively new issue – and is associated with the

controversial sleeping tablet Ambien.• Sleepers get into their car and drive – in numerous cases, cars have been

driven down the wrong side of the road, straight into parked cars or lamp-posts.

• If the dangerous driver is caught by the police, they appear oblivious to the situation – and later have absolutely no recollection of events.

• A typical case of sleep driving is set out below:-• Mr Dwayne Cribb, an American long time probation and parole officer

remembers nothing after taking Ambien before bed in 2008, until he awoke in prison to learn he had left his bed and gone for a drive, smashed into a parked van and driven away before crashing into a tree. Mr. Cribb is still facing charges of leaving the scene of an accident.

Sleep Eating

• Sleep eating, or NSRED nocturnal sleep related eating disorder- has been a recognised medical condition since 1991.

• Michael H. Silber, MD, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorder Centre stated the following….

• “What happens is the patients get out of bed, walk to the kitchen, prepare food — often sloppily, and often with strange, high-calorie ingredients….they have microwave food sometimes. They eat in a very sloppy way, either in the kitchen or after taking the food back to bed. And they have no memory of it. They wake to find a mess in the kitchen or crumbs in the bed.”

• Bizarre night-time recipes include:- salt sandwiches, buttered cigarettes and cat-meat and pickle sandwiches

Sleep Terrorism

• In 2005, during a flight from Charlotte to England, Sean Joyce (a British painting contractor) fell asleep – the next thing he knew, he awoke in a prison cell – facing criminal charges – which could potentially lead to a 20 year prison sentence.

• Unbeknownst to him, during his sleep, he had stood up, ripped off his shirt and began shouting, screaming and threatening to kill both himself and other passengers.

• The flight had to be diverted to make an unscheduled landing in Boston.

• Luckily the judge accepted Sean’s defence … he was not conscious during his outburst – he had been taking the controversial sleeping aid – “Ambien” as well as drinking wine.

Sleep Shoplifting

• This is not a common occurrence, but is linked with taking the sleeping tablet Ambien.

• Judith Renee Lasswell, a highly respected Navy lieutenant, stationed in Florida, was arrested for shoplifting DVDs and a candle from her naval base. Although the items were found in her possession, she has no memory of taking them – and insists that she was asleep during the time of the incident.

• Her security clearance has been revoked, and she faces larceny charges and dishonorable discharge from the Navy.

Sleep Kicking

• Sleep kicking – or restless leg syndrome (also known as Ekbom’s syndrome)

• Sufferers of restless leg syndrome are often unaware of the mayhem they cause to their bed-fellows.

• Pain and discomfort builds up in the limbs of the sufferer (toes, ankles, knees and / or hips), and the only way to achieve temporary relief is to move the limbs – often in quick jerky movements, but with no awareness of how often or how aggressively they are moving.

• Partners can quite literally be kicked out of bed – bed sheets are ripped and torn

Sleep Painting

• In one bizarre reported case associated with the controversial sleep drug Ambien, one woman woke up with a paint brush in her hand and went downstairs to find that she had re-painted her front door.