Preliminary description of a self-similarity phenomenon in the connection patterns of dreams.
Umberto Barcaro, Pietro Rizzi
Dreaming June 1, 2010 DOI: 10.1037/a0019241 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 4 |
| Population | Four patients in therapy |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key findings | A self-similar 'Basic Pattern' appears in dream connection patterns across three levels—within a dream, among source clusters, and across dreams of the same patient—and is meaningfully interpretable at each level. The authors note the small sample makes results preliminary, but a minimum occurrence frequency is statistically significant. |
Abstract
The objective of the research was to recognize and describe a phenomenon of self-similarity in dreams, specifically in the connection patterns of dreams: These patterns were obtained by means of a linguistic analysis of data including dream reports and associations provided by the dreamer. Dreams of four patients in therapy, three for each patient, were considered. It was found that a well-defined pattern (Basic Pattern) existed at three levels: links among dream sources of a dream, connections among source clusters of a dream, and connections among different dreams of a same patient. This self-similarity pattern was meaningfully interpretable at all the three levels. Considering the small number of patients, the description and interpretation of the results should be viewed as only preliminary. However, a minimum value for the occurrence frequency of the observed phenomenon can be given with good statistical significance.