Video game play and lucid dreams: Implications for the development of consciousness.

The improvement of various cognitive skills associated with video game play has been well documented; however, the development of consciousness implications have not been considered. In the present study several potential indicators of consciousness development, including and especially lucid dreaming frequency, were examined as a function of video game play. In the first study, high video game players were more likely to report lucid dreams, observer dreams, and dream control when dream recall frequency and motion disorientation during play were controlled. There were no similar differences in other consciousness development indices. In the second study, a slightly different pattern of results occurred because of respondents all being frequent players. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between video game play and threat simulation dreams.

Revonsuo proposes an evolutionary theory of dreaming in which dreams allow an individual to prepare for real world threats in the safety of the virtual setting of the dream world. Based upon previous work examining the dreams of video game players, it was hypothesized that high-end gamers would experience fewer threat simulation dreams because of frequent threat resolution rehearsal during game play. Subjects were asked to report a night before dream and fill out surveys regarding their gaming history, media use, and dream experiences. Using a factor analysis, support for the main hypothesis was found. Individuals with a history of game play experienced fewer threat severity variables in their dreams. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Video game play and dream bizarreness.

In a series of studies, J. Gackenbach has been mapping the effects of heavy video game play on consciousness, including dreaming. The reason that gamers are being investigated is that they represent a group of people who are engaging in the most immersive media experience widely available today. With its audio and visual interactive nature as well as the long hours often required to master a game, they are an opportune group to study media effects upon consciousness. In this study, the focus was on dream bizarreness. Dream bizarreness has been variously thought to be the differentiator between waking and dreaming thought, an indication of creativity, and most recently, as a model for solving the binding problem in consciousness. Using A. Revonsuo’s and C. Salmivalli’s scale for dream content analysis, it was found that high-end gamers evidenced more bizarre dreams than did low-end gamers in two of three types of bizarreness categories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electronic media and lucid-control dreams: Morning after reports.

Lucid dreams, as well as control dreams, have recently been reported as associated with video game play (Gackenbach, 2006). In this study, dreams were collected from the morning after a night of rested sleep as well as electronic media use from the day before the dream. In a factor analysis, lucid and control dreams were associated with all electronic media use but most strongly with video game play. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream and blog content analysis of a long term diary of a video game player with obsessive compulsive disorder.

A case study of a young man who is an avid video game player and designer is the focus of this paper. His online Website offers over 800 dreams, of which over half were content analyzed using the Hall and Van de Castle system. Also available were daily blogs. Thus, several research questions could be addressed. Did the diary evidence consistency across time? Did the dreams evidence incorporation of activities discussed in the daily blogs from the day before the dream? Did this one individual's dream diary echo former research into the dreams of video game players? A final question was addressed because of the diagnosis of the diarist as having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Did the dreams of this young man echo previous research into dreams of OCD sufferers? The findings were that the diary was consistent across time and there was incorporation of some elements of the daily blog into subsequent dreams. Some aspects of his dreams echoed previous video game players' dream findings, like more dead and imaginary characters. Finally, the OCD analysis only partly replicated the previous research into the dreams of those with OCD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream incorporation of video-game play as a function of interactivity and fidelity.

Video-game play offers the opportunity to investigate the continuity hypothesis. Using interactive video games rather than passive films as a controlled manipulation allows for an engaging presleep experience. Several researchers have successfully used video games to investigate dream incorporation. In this study, interactivity and fidelity were the independent measures that manipulated immersion in a commercially available video game. Interactivity was either passive or active, whereas fidelity was high-screen resolution and stereophonic headset audio versus low. The highest dream incorporation in the high-fidelity–high-interactivity condition was expected. Incorporation was assessed by participant self-report and judges' evaluations. The independent variable of fidelity was especially strong in both the manipulation and the subsequent dream incorporation for self-report. Interactivity became the dominant variable when viewed from the judges' perspectives. The effects of demand characteristics and emotionality were also considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)