REM Dreaming and Cognitive Skills at Ages 5-8: A Cross-sectional Study
David Foulkes, Michael Hollifield, Brenda Sullivan, Laura Bradley, Rebecca Terry
International Journal of Behavioral Development December 1, 1990 DOI: 10.1177/016502549001300404 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Longitudinal Cross-sectional Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 80 |
| Population | Children aged 5, 6, 7, and 8 years (10 boys and 10 girls at each age) |
| Duration | Three nights |
| Measures | Wechsler Block Design |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Citations | 105 |
| Key findings | Dream reports were relatively infrequent (median report rate 20%). Before age 7, dream imagery was reported as more static than dynamic; before age 8, a passive-observer self role was most common and dream narratives were simple. Waking visuospatial skill, but not verbal skill, predicted dream-report rates, with Wechsler Block Design the best single predictor. The authors argue these replications show reliable dream-laboratory data can be collected from young children and that dream production depends on representational intelligence. |
Abstract
Eighty children, 10 boys and 10 girls at each of four ages (5, 6, 7, and 8), were awakened from REM sleep on 10 occasions over the course of three nights in a sleep laboratory to report dreams. They also completed a variety of cognitive skill tests. In confirmation of an earlier, longitudinal study (Foulkes, 1982): Dreams were reported relatively seldom (median report rate of 20%); until age 7, their imagery was reported as more static than dynamic; until age 8, a passive-observer role for their self character was most common; until age 8, dream activity evidenced very simple forms of narrative structure; waking visuospatial, but not verbal, skills predicted dream-report rates, with Wechsler Block Design the single best such predictor. These replications argue: That reliable dream-laboratory data can be collected from young children; that dream production/experience depends upon representational intelligence; and that children's REM dream reports can be used to study the development of specifically conscious mental processes and representations.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Student volunteers trained to become lucid and signal lucidity with horizontal eye... | 2009 | Observational study | n = 6 |
| Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Young adults with a mean age of 20 years | 2002 | Prospective observational study | n = 116 |
| Long-term effects of extreme situational stress on sleep and dreaming Survivors of traumatic events who complained of sleep disturbances, compared with... | 1987 | Case-control study | n = 11 |
| The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Adults who reported dreams | 2004 | Observational cohort | n = 147 |
| Dreaming in NREM Sleep: A High-Density EEG Study of Slow Waves and Spindles Healthy human subjects | 2018 | Observational cohort | n = 14 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 23
- A new neurocognitive theory of dreams. Dreaming March 1, 2001
- Spotlight on dream recall: the ages of dreams Nature and Science of Sleep 2018
- A Novel Approach to Dream Content Analysis Reveals Links Between Learning-Related Dream Incorporation and Cognitive Abilities Frontiers in Psychology August 6, 2018
- Dreams as the Expression of Conceptions and Concerns: A Comparison of German and American College Students Imagination, Cognition and Personality March 1, 2006
- What is the State-of-the-Art on Lucid Dreaming? 2015
and 18 more in the library