Dreams, Perception, and Creative Realization.
Topics in Cognitive Science October 1, 2015 Katie Glaskin
In Aboriginal Australian contexts, perceptual openness that extends from waking life into dreaming provides a cognitive framework for understanding dream experiences. This cultural orientation resembles the personality trait of openness to experience, which has been linked to dream recall frequency. Identifying perceptual openness at a cultural rather than individual level reveals how cultural differences shape perception, indicating cognitive diversity. Given the connection between dreams and creativity suggested by anecdotal evidence and research, a cultural orientation toward perceptual openness likely influences creativity realized through dreams. However, such creativity cannot be separated from the relational context in which dream material is elaborated and understood.