Spontaneous Thought, Insight, and Control in Lucid Dreams
Oxford Handbooks Online April 5, 2018 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190464745.013.26 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Lucid dreaming |
| Key points | Argues that lucid dreaming is a promising target for investigating spontaneous thought, and that lucid insight itself can be the outcome of spontaneous processes rather than conscious reasoning. |
Abstract
Dreams are sometimes described as an intensified form of spontaneous waking thought. Lucid dreams may seem to be a counterexample, because metacognitive insight into the fact that one is now dreaming is often associated with the ability to deliberately control the ongoing dream. This chapter uses conceptual considerations and empirical research findings to argue that lucid dreaming is in fact a promising and rich target for the future investigation of spontaneous thought. In particular, the investigation of dream lucidity can shed light on the relationship between metacognitive insight and control, on the one hand, and the spontaneous, largely imagistic cognitive processes that underlie the formation of dream imagery, on the other hand. In some cases, even lucid insight itself can be described as the outcome of spontaneous processes, rather than as resulting from conscious and deliberate reasoning. This raises new questions about the relationship between metacognitive awareness and spontaneous thought.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varieties of Lucid Dreaming Experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| What I make up when I wake up: anti-experience views and narrative fabrication of dreams | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| New perspectives for the study of lucid dreaming: From brain stimulation to philosophical theories of self-consciousness | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Lucid dreaming: Evidence and methodology | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 15
- Aphantasia, imagination and dreaming Philosophical Studies September 18, 2020
- Dream lucidity is associated with positive waking mood. Consciousness and Cognition August 1, 2020
- Insight and Dissociation in Lucid Dreaming and Psychosis Frontiers in Psychology November 12, 2018
- The dynamic framework of mind wandering revisited: How mindful meta-awareness affects mental states' constraints. Consciousness and Cognition October 1, 2021
- Exploring the range of reported dream lucidity Philosophy and the Mind Sciences April 15, 2021
and 10 more in the library
Cites 37
- Out‐of‐body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin Brain January 15, 2004
- Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Sleep September 1, 2009
- Not all minds that wander are lost: the importance of a balanced perspective on the mind-wandering state Frontiers in Psychology 2013
- Out-of-body experience, heautoscopy, and autoscopic hallucination of neurological origin Brain Research Reviews July 13, 2005
- Dreaming as mind wandering: evidence from functional neuroimaging and first-person content reports. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
and 32 more in the library