Relationship Between Neurocognitive and Sociocultural Perspectives of Dreams

Abstract

Dreams constitute one of the most universal and, at the same time, most complex phenomena of human psychological experience. Over more than a century, the study of dreams has evolved from interpretations centered on universal symbols and unconscious contents toward cognitive, neuroscientific, and sociocultural approaches. The present article integrates recent findings on the nature of dreams with research on the developmental understanding of mind and dream processes in childhood. It is argued that dreams are dynamic constructions resulting from the interaction of neurobiological mechanisms, personal experiences, cognitive development, and cultural resources. Based on recent empirical evidence, this paper tries to demonstrates that individual traits, everyday experiences, and sociocultural events significantly influence dream content. Furthermore, it examines how children progressively construct an understanding of dreams as private mental phenomena and how dream contents reflect the appropriation of elements derived from family, school, mass media, and other cultural practices. It is concluded that dreams can be understood as personal narratives that reorganize experiences through socially acquired symbolic resources.