Incorporation of concern- and nonconcern-related verbal stimuli into dream content.
Timothy J. Hoelscher, Eric Klinger, Steven G. Barta
Journal of Abnormal Psychology February 1, 1981 DOI: 10.1037/0021-843x.90.1.88 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 7 |
| Population | Seven male subjects studied during sleep Stages 2 and REM |
| Interventions | Concern-related verbal stimuli Nonconcern-related verbal stimuli |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Citations | 90 |
| Key findings | Concern-related verbal stimuli were incorporated into dream reports significantly more often than nonconcern stimuli during REM sleep. Low dream recall rates prevented assessment of whether the same relationship held in Stage 2. The authors argue this supports the view that responsiveness to sounds during sleep depends on the personal significance of the stimulus. |
Abstract
The hypothesis that cues related to subjects ' current concerns can control attentional and cognitive processes during sleeping and dreaming was examined by presenting concern- and nonconcern-related verbal stimuli to seven male subjects during sleep Stages 2 and REM. The taped dream reports were judged for stimulus incorporation by two independent raters. The results revealed that concern stimuli were incorporated significantly more often than nonconcern stimuli in Stage REM, although low dream recall rates prevented assessment of whether this relationship also existed in Stage 2. This rinding supports the results of a number of other studies which indicate that responsiveness to auditory stimuli during sleeping and dreaming is largely dependent on the personal significance of the stimulus to the sleeper. It further suggests that sleeping subjects are capable of making more complex and subtle cognitive discriminations, based on the waking value of the stimulus to the subject, than has previously been demonstrated. Research on the determinants of waking thought content (Klinger, 1978) has demonstrated the influence of current concerns on cognitive processes. The concept of current concern refers to the state of an organism between the time it becomes committed to a particular goal and the consummation or abandonment of the goal. During dichotic listening, cues related to subjects ' current concerns exerted a controlling effect on attention, recall, and thought content. The present investigation seeks to extend these findings to effects of concernrelated cues on dream content. Responsiveness to external stimulation has been shown to occur in sleeping subjects. Subjects can be induced to perform physical acts in response to cues introduced while they are asleep (Evans,
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming Verified by Volitional Communication during Rem Sleep Selected subjects proficient in lucid dreaming | 1981 | Experimental study | n = 5 |
| Slow Wave Sleep Dreaming Fifty volunteers sleeping in a sleep laboratory | 1992 | Observational study with counterbalanced within-subject awakenings | n = 50 |
| Lucid Dreaming and Alpha Activity: A Preliminary Report Good dream recallers | 1982 | Experimental study | n = 10 |
| Lucid dreaming during NREM sleep: Two case reports | 2012 | Sleep laboratory study | |
| The Dream Catcher experiment: blinded analyses failed to detect markers of dreaming consciousness in EEG spectral power. Human participants during sleep | 2020 | Experimental study with blinded classification | n = 9 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 23
- What about dreams? State of the art and open questions Journal of Sleep Research April 13, 2022
- Experimental Research on Dreaming: State of the Art and Neuropsychoanalytic Perspectives Frontiers in Psychology 2011
- What is sleep exactly? Global and local modulations of sleep oscillations all around the clock. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews December 1, 2023
- Dreams as the Expression of Conceptions and Concerns: A Comparison of German and American College Students Imagination, Cognition and Personality March 1, 2006
- Investigation on Neurobiological Mechanisms of Dreaming in the New Decade Brain Sciences February 11, 2021
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