DREAMS WHAT DO THEY MEAN DREAM THEORIES InformationProcessing

DREAMS… WHAT DO THEY MEAN? ? ? DREAM THEORIES

Information-Processing ØDreams sift, sort and fix the day’s experiences into memory ØREM sleep facilitates memory

Evidence People who get more REM sleep have higher scores on memory exams

Physiological Theory Ø Dreams provide the sleeping brain with periodic stimulation that helps preserve brain’s neural pathways Ø Evidence- Infants spend more time in REM sleep than older people

Cognitive Theory Ø Dreams are a natural part of brain maturation and development Ø They draw on our working concepts and knowledge Ø Evidence- The dreams of small children are more like a slide show.

Problem Solving Theory Ø 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 Ø Manifest Content: The story line of the dream Ø Latent Content: The hidden meaning (symbols) within the dream (This is what Freud was really interested in) Ø Dreams are key to understanding inner-conflict

FREUD Ø Carl Jung (Freud’s student) picked up and expanded where Freud left off Ø Jung believed that you could “decode” your dreams

Evidence Ø There is no scientific evidence for this theory.

Activation-Synthesis Theory Ø Dreams are a product of activity from pons and/or brainstem Ø Cerebral Cortex attempts to make sense of neuron firings by creating a story Ø DREAMS HAVE NO MEANING!

Evidence Ø PET scans and other imaging techniques provide evidence for this.