| Abstract: | Salient dreams are often discussed and ruminated upon over time, especially when they feature in dream work or therapy. The present study investigated the effects of rehearsal over time on dream memories, as compared to memories for waking experiences. Participants were instructed to complete a dream and waking episodic event diary over two weeks. A rehearsal group (n = 27) were instructed to read through their reports after recording them. A control group (n = 28) were instructed not to look at their reports. A surprise recall task demonstrated that rehearsal reduced significantly the detail of dream, but not waking event, reports. It maintained episodic richness for dreams. Furthermore, rehearsed dream and event reports corresponded significantly more closely with original reports than controls. These data indicate that while rehearsal may not increase dream recall over time, it may influence the phenomenology of memories that are subsequently recalled, such that a rehearsed memory is subsequently recalled, rather than the original experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved) |
