The Effects of Positive and Negative Pre-Sleep Stimuli on Dream Experiences
The Journal of Psychology 1988 DOI: 10.1080/00223980.1988.10542940 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 45 |
| Population | 45 students |
| Intervention | neutral |
| Duration | 1-week dream diary phase followed by a 1-week picture-viewing phase |
| Citations | 8 |
| Key findings | Viewing a positive, neutral, or negative picture before sleep produced corresponding affect in the following morning's dream reports, suggesting that pre-sleep emotional stimuli influence dream affect. Physical elements of dreams and pictorial stimuli were not related to affect. |
Abstract
In this study, the emotional and physical content of dreams was examined with post-sleep reports. In the first phase of the study, 45 students were asked to keep a dream diary for a week. The next week, the students were asked to look at a picture with positive, neutral, or negative affect in the evening before going to bed and then to record their dreams the following morning. Results showed that the pictures produced corresponding affect in morning dream reports, though physical elements of dreams and pictorial stimuli were not related to affect.