Mapping dreams in a computational space: A phrase-level model for analyzing Fight/Flight and other typical situations in dream reports.

Abstract

This article demonstrates that an automated system of linguistic analysis can be developed - the Oneirograph - to analyze large collections of dreams and computationally map their contents in terms of typical situations involving an interplay of characters, activities, and settings. Focusing the analysis first on the twin situations of fighting and fleeing, the results provide densely detailed empirical evidence of the underlying semantic structures of typical dreams. The results also indicate that the Oneirograph analytic system can be applied to other typical dream situations as well (e.g., flying, falling), each of which can be computationally mapped in terms of a distinctive constellation of characters, activities, and settings.