Gravity content in dreams.

Flying and falling dreams are often listed among the most common of dreams. Aside from the pure form, in which the dreamer actually falls or flies, it is frequent to find situations in which the dreamer deals with actions or objects implying gravity functions, that is, climbing, floating through air or water, and going up or down on a ladder or in an elevator. By means of the analysis of 685 dreams of male and female subjects, aged between 10 and 32, we registered various gravity contents (falling, flying, water, climbing, descending, staircase, and elevator) and their interrelations. Results show the presence of these elements in 38.1% of the sampled dreams. The authors focused on the link between gravity contents and other typical elements appearing in the same dream (attack, loss, sexual relationships, the body, performance/exams, and nursing). Results tend to confirm a link between gravity content and sexuality. The results of our research are essentially consistent with the findings of an analysis in DreamBank (http://www.dreambank.net/) of the frequency of words related to gravity in a dreams sample (N=14,193). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of session process and outcome in the Hill dream model: Contributions of client characteristics and the process of the three stages.

Forty-two therapists trained in the C. E. Hill dream model (1996, 2004a) conducted single dream sessions with 157 volunteer clients. Clients who profited most from dream sessions had poor initial functioning on the problem reflected in the dream, positive attitudes toward dreams, salient dreams, low initial insight into the dream, and poor initial action ideas related to the dream. When initial stages of the session were evaluated positively, later stages were also evaluated positively. Process (therapist competence/adherence and client involvement) was positively related to session outcome. Perspective also influenced the findings, such that clients', therapists', and judges' perceptions of process related to their own, but not others', evaluations of process and session outcome. Implications of findings for dream work and research are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The logical structure of dreams and their relation to reality.

The contradictions and non sequiturs often found in dreams (or, equivalently, dream-narratives) are not in fact logical errors, but express and work with a type of logic that characterizes the deepest dimensions of our waking reality. These are the dimensions in which we deal with ourselves as a whole, our lives as a whole, or with the sense of reality as a whole. We do so, for example, in situations of deep personal transformation, or of recognition of deep difference of outlook. The paper argues that the logic of these situations is validly one of contradiction and non sequitur, that dreams sometimes express and work with these kinds of situations, and that these kinds of dreams therefore validly involve the same kind of logic. These kinds of dreams consequently also express insight into the sense that our lives or existence as a whole has for us. In achieving that insight, they actively orient, situate, or resituate us in our relation to our lives or existence as a whole. In this respect they are in themselves a practice of philosophy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream content: Reflections of the emotional and psychological states of earthquake survivors.

This study investigated dream narratives as reflections of the emotional and psychological states of earthquake survivors. Dreams and dreams imagery have reportedly been affected by the emotional and psychological trauma that the dreamer goes through. Dream narratives and dream content ratings used in earlier studies were utilized in this study. Narratives and content ratings were obtained from a sample of 27 volunteer survivors of the October 8, 2005 earthquake in Pakistan (Azad Kashmir area) and 27 volunteer controls from similar demographics. Three independent raters judged the dream narratives and dream content ratings. The judges rating were highly congruent (86.05). Findings revealed that the survivor group had more vivid, unpleasant, horrifying, and hostile dreams compared with the control group. However, there were no significant gender differences. The data suggest that a closer study of dreams can be used to understand the underlying trauma for effective interventions. In addition, interesting emergence of recurrent dreams was seen, which will be independently studied in future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream content and memory processing: Dream lag effects within a single night and across several nights: A pilot study.

Dream content may reflect elements of memory processing occurring within a single night and across several days or weeks. One 19-year-old healthy female college student kept a daily diary, a sleep diary, and recorded her dreams for 2 months. A preset alarm clock allowed her to sample dreams from both early NREM-rich and late REM-rich sleep. Dreams were examined for memory elements that were similar to diary entries. There were 55 scorable dreams obtained during 25 nights. Matches between dream elements and daytime events occurred quite frequently depending on dream element. Dream characters, actions, themes, and settings more often matched daytime memories than dream objects, emotions, or events. Matches were also time dependent. Emotions appeared in dreams after the subject experienced them sooner than all other elements (1.5 days), while objects took the longest to appear in dreams (3.5 days). With respect to within night cognitive processing, 42% of scorable nights contained the same memory elements in the first and last dreams and 8% of scorable nights contained the same emotion within the same context between an early and late dream. Selected dream elements appear to reflect memory processing occurring throughout the night and over the course of several days. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream intensity scale: Factors in the phenomenological analysis of dreams.

The present study aimed to develop a comprehensive assessment tool for measuring subjective dream intensity by revising the original probes and response scales of the Dream Intensity Inventory and incorporating new variables. The factor analyses suggested that 18 items of the new instrument, Dream Intensity Scale, could form four scales and six subscales. The revision of the probes and response scales did not have major effects on the clustering of the indicator variables, which was highly consistent with the original three-factor measurement model. The alpha coefficients, interitem correlations, and item-scale correlations indicated a good internal consistency for the Dream Intensity Scale. Moreover, the convergent and discriminant concurrent validity of the Dream Intensity Scale and the clinical utility of its scale and subscale scores were substantiated by their selective correlations with neuroticism and extraversion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in dreams: Applications to dream work with male clients.

Differences between the dreams of men and women have been a topic of interest and research in the field of dream science. This article focuses on three such gender differences in dreaming, namely, dream recall frequency, sex of dream character and dream aggression. For each gender difference, a review of literature is presented, along with a discussion of possible causes for the difference between genders. In addition, suggestions are made for applications to clinical practice with a focus on gender-specific dream work strategies for work with male clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Students' views on the role of dreams in human life.

The present study was an attempt to investigate the subjectively perceived role of dreams. It examined the private concepts of dreams and dreaming, attitude toward dreams, and the influence of dreams on behavior, which can manifest in sharing dreams with other people, trying to interpret one's own dreams, believing they have special meaning, or behaving according to the clues given by the dream. The sample consisted of 47 participants, students ages 19-20. A structured interview, individually administered, was used. The results indicate interesting relationships between analyzed variables and gender; they also show individual differences in both common notions about dreams and the way dreams can influence other kinds of behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Revision of the good fortune scale: A new tool for the study of "big dreams."

This article proposes a revision of the good fortune (GF) scale of the Hall and Van de Castle (HVDC; 1966) content analysis scoring system. In place of the original one-point GF scale, this proposed revision offers a 6-point scale that conceptually matches the HVDC system's 6 types of misfortune. The GF scale is then applied to the 1000 HVDC norm dreams to generate a new estimation of the average frequency of the 6 types of good fortune. These findings are discussed in relation to the study of highly memorable and impactful dreams, what C. G. Jung (1948/1979) called "big dreams." The new GF scale strengthens the ability of the HVDC system to contribute to the interdisciplinary study of those rare but unusually significant types of dreams. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Dream content of 10- to 11-year-old preadolescent boys and girls.

This study examines the content of dreams of 10 to 11-year-old boys (n = 80) and girls (n = 102) gathered using the Most Recent Dream Method (Hartmann, Elkin, & Garg, 1991) and analyzed through the Hall and Van de Castle Method (1966; Domhoff, 1996). The study compares the dreams of the Italian sample with those of a normative adult sample and other research on the dreams of preadolescents of various countries (United States, Spain, and Switzerland). In the main it confirms the results of such preadolescent dream analysis research (Avila-White, Schneider, & Domhoff, 1999; Oberst, Charles, & Chamarro, 2005; Saline, 1999; Strauch & Lederbogen, 1999), highlighting in particular the importance of aggressive physical interaction in the participants under study. The data that emerge from dream analysis may be compared with the results of research into problems of aggression and transgression in boys and girls at this age (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2007). Dream analysis may represent a significant contribution to the study of preadolescence, allowing the characteristics and prevailing themes of preadolescents to be compared with those of participants from other age ranges. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recurrence of typical dreams and the instinctual and delusional predispositions of dreams.

The present study investigated the recurrence of typical dreams and refined Yu's measures for assessing the delusional inclination during dreaming. The Dream Themes Inventory, which consists of typical, delusional, appetitive-instinctual dream themes, was administered to 608 participants. The results indicate that some dream motifs are not only shared by a majority of people but also regularly recur within a person. Moreover, this study demonstrates that virtually all types of delusions and paranoid suspiciousness—including grandiose, persecutory, religious, somatic, jealous, and erotomanic delusions—can be observed in dreams. In addition to fine-tuning Yu's previous Ego Ideal, Grandiosity, and Persecution scales, Erotomania, Appetite-instinct, and Sensorimotor Excitement scales were developed to supplement the assessment of the intrinsic predispositions that modulate dream content. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Big dreams: An analysis using central image intensity, content analysis, and word searches.

The authors provide empirical data to help answer the question of what distinguishes “big dreams” (Jung, 1974) from ordinary dreams. Reported here are the results of a multifaceted quantitative analysis of 162 most recent dreams and 162 most memorable dreams gathered from the same group of individuals. This matched collection of recent and memorable dream reports was analyzed by a novel combination of three quantitative methods: Hartmann's (1998, 2008) research on central images, Hall and Van de Castle's (1966) content analysis, and Bulkeley's (2009b) word search approach. Using these different methods of analysis on the same two sets of dreams provided an unusually detailed portrait of the basic patterns of big dreams. The results suggest that big dreams are distinguished by a tendency toward “primal” qualities of form and content: more intense imagery, more nature references, more physical aggression, more family characters, more fantastic/imaginary beings, and more magical happenings, along with less high-order cognition and less connection to ordinary daily surroundings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's grief dreams and the theory of spiritual intelligence.

Throughout history, people have reported dreams that have impacted upon their spiritual lives, some of which are related to death. Dreams related to death are not uncommon in childhood, and research shows that some children make meaning from them. Often this interpretation of a dream reflects a search for meaning about issues of life and death, as well as acting as a coping mechanism. This article explores how children make meaning from this type of dream by synthesizing the theory of spiritual intelligence with theoretical approaches to dreaming. Specifically, it explores the intersection between theoretical approaches to dreams related to death, children's responses to these dreams, and a key function of spiritual intelligence to solve problems of meaning and value in life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender role conflict and the process and outcome of dream work with men.

The current study evaluated how men with variable levels of gender role conflict responded to single-session, therapist-facilitated dream work using the C. E. Hill (1996, 2004) model of dream work. Overall, men reported positive benefits from participating in the dream session, similar to data in other studies. Men who reported higher gender role conflict on the Gender Role Conflict Scale discussed related gender role conflict themes during dream work, although gender role conflict was not related to session outcome. Reasons for these results are explored, and ideas for future research are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of outcome of dream work for East Asian volunteer clients: Dream factors, attachment anxiety, Asian values, and therapist input.

Eighty-eight East Asian volunteers were paired with 6 East Asian therapists who provided low or high input in single-dream sessions. Volunteer clients with poor initial functioning on the target problem associated with their dreams and high self-efficacy for working with dreams profited more from dream sessions than did their counterparts. Although no main effects were found for therapist input, volunteer clients who scored higher on attachment anxiety had better outcome in the low-input condition, whereas clients who scored lower on attachment anxiety had better outcome in the high-input condition. Volunteer clients with lower Asian values evaluated low-input sessions more positively, whereas volunteer clients with higher Asian values evaluated high-input sessions more positively. Implications for dream work and future research are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Cognitive Therapy and Dreams.

In this article I review the book, "Cognitive Therapy and Dreams" (see record 2004-00029-000). I came across this book as I was recently searching psychological abstracts for dreams and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and for hypnosis and CBT. Of the 9 references I found on dreams and CBT, all were in one issue of the Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: An International Quarterly (Vol. 16, No. 1). I read a good number of the hypnosis-CBT articles and books, and all were written to integrate CBT into the field of hypnosis. Conversely, the dream articles integrating dream work and CBT were written by a range of people, some with a primary interest in dreams, but some with a more central interest in cognitive therapy. Apparently, a few cognitive-behavioral therapists and researchers have taken some interest in dream work, whereas the hypnosis interest in CBT continues mostly outside the domain of CBT. The collection of the nine articles published in the journal was an impressive enough accomplishment that eight articles of this collection plus four additional articles are now published in this book. The fact that these articles are now in a book may encourage researchers to perform the necessary therapy outcome research to validate the integration of dream work and CBT. The book adds significantly to the journal by drawing a distinction between objectivist approaches (Part II) and constructivist approaches (Part III), a distinction that unifies the articles in this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive differences in dream content between Argentine males and females using quantitative content analysis.

This study asked the question, Are there significant content differences between male and female dream reports obtained in seminars conducted in Argentina? Each of the 100 female and 100 male participants contributed one recent dream report during dream seminars held in Argentina between 1990 and 1998. Dream reports were scored using Hall and Van de Castle's System of Content Analysis. Major findings revealed that Argentine males reported significantly more aggressions per character and a higher percentage of dreamers as the aggressor than reported by females. They also reported more dreams with at least one success than reported by females. In contrast, females scored significantly higher on both the Self-Negativity index and the Negative Emotions index compared to males. Although some findings were similar to past studies using American participants, others were unique to this study and may be attributable to the particular sample used, or may suggest actual underlying cultural patterns of contemporary Argentine men and women. Results are discussed in terms of Hall's continuity hypothesis and Domhoff's cognitive model of dreaming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paranoia in dreams and the classification of typical dreams.

The present study was geared toward expanding the previous evidence for the thematic similarities between dreaming and psychosis. Themes derived from delusions that characterize psychotic and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, together with the modified Typical Dream Questionnaire, were administered to 280 Chinese participants from Hong Kong. These delusional themes served as some continuous variables for evaluating the degree to which the narrative contents of dreaming can be compared with those of psychotic and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. It was found that delusions of various types, with various levels of bizarreness, could be observed in dreams. This was particularly true for themes involving paranoid suspiciousness, such as blaming others for making troubles and feeling that others are not giving proper credit for one’s achievements, which were dreamed by a majority of the participants. The current findings generated by the exploratory factor analyses precisely replicated Yu’s (2009) previous delusional model that classified dream themes into the Ego Ideal, Grandiosity, and Persecution categories. Moreover, the present study expanded the Ego Ideal category, developed measures for assessing the delusional inclination during dreaming, and discussed the reciprocal, triadic dynamics between the three major categories of dream themes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)