The present study examines processes associated with intrusions into consciousness during an unconscious state, natural sleep. The definition of sleep is still much debated. Almost all researchers agree that sleep onset represents a gradual loss of consciousness of the external environment. For sleep to be beneficial, it needs to remain as undisturbed as possible. Nevertheless, unlike other...
The current dissertation examined gender, cultural, and ontogenetic dimensions in the dreams of Canadians. Normative studies in the United States, Europe, and other countries have documented normative data including gender differences and compared their findings to American data to investigate cultural differences. The purpose of the present study was to extend research of this nature by...
A total of 600 dream reports were collected from 300 Canadian university students, 150 female and 150 male, and their content analyzed with the Hall and Van de Castle (1966) system of categories. The main dream content categories were characters, aggressive and friendly interactions, positive and negative emotions, and dream outcomes. The main purpose of the analysis was to provide normative...
Previous research has found evidence of relationships among sleep states and memory sources. However, the use of text-analysis of dream reports limits the validity of measures of emotion in dream reports. In order to determine whether dreams contain imagery that is emotionally significant (or meaningful) to the dreamer, a new technique for measuring the emotional significance of dream imagery...