Dream Recall and Content in Long and Short Sleepers
Perceptual and Motor Skills August 1, 1972 DOI: 10.2466/pms.1972.35.1.267 (opens in new tab)
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractDream recall and content were compared between 10 female college students who habitually slept more than 9 hours per night and 7 who slept less than 6.5 hours per night. Over two weeks, the short sleepers reported 81 dreams and the long sleepers reported 114 dreams. Among nine dream content variables, the two groups differed significantly on only one, and they did not significantly differ in how often they recalled dreams. The authors suggest that sleep length itself may be relatively unimportant for dream reports and dream reporting in homogeneous groups of long and short sleepers, and other personality characteristics may matter more.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 17 |
| Population | Female college students who habitually sleep more than 9 hours or less than 6.5 hours per night |
| Duration | 2 weeks |
| Key finding | Long and short sleepers did not significantly differ in frequency of dream recall and differed on only one of nine dream content variables, suggesting sleep length may be relatively unimportant for dream reporting. |
Abstract
Dream recall and content were studied in 10 female college students who habitually slept nocturnally for more than 9 hr. and in 7 who habitually slept less than 6½ hr. During 2 wk. 81 spontaneously recalled dreams were reported by the 7 short sleepers and 114 dreams by the 10 long sleepers. Of 9 dream content variables the 2 groups of sleepers differed significantly on only one and did not significantly differ in frequency of dream recall. It was suggested that in homogeneous groups of long and short sleepers length of sleep per se might be relatively unimportant in relation to dream reports and dream reporting, and other measured personality characteristics.