Analyzing Modifications across Dream Reports
Piercarla Cicogna, Corrado Cavallero, M Bosinelli
Perceptual and Motor Skills August 1, 1982 DOI: 10.2466/pms.1982.55.1.27 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 5 |
| Population | Five human subjects reporting dreams upon awakening from a second REM period |
| Duration | Follow-up reports obtained the following morning, 3 days, and 1 week after the initial awakening report |
| Measures | Coding Units (CUs), Scoring System for Latent Structure of Foulkes |
| Citations | 10 |
| Key findings | Dream reports retold the next morning, three days later, and one week later did not differ significantly from one another, but differed from the original awakening report: they contained fewer coding units, words, and sentences, showed restructuring interpreted as secondary revision, and shifted from interactive (motivational) toward associative (cognitive) sentences, with fewer interactive sentences including the ego. The authors discuss these changes in light of interference and repression hypotheses. |
Abstract
Reports of 56 dreams from 5 subjects, given upon awakening during the second REMP, were analyzed and compared with a further 3 reports of each dream, obtained the following morning, 3 days, and 1 wk. later, using a system of Coding Units (CUs) and the Scoring System for Latent Structure of Foulkes. There were no significant differences between the second, third, and fourth reports, while the most important differences between the first and subsequent reports concerned: (a) a decrease in the number of CUs, words and sentences as indicated by the scoring; (b) a partial restructuring of the material, interpretable as secondary revision; (c) a decrease in the motivational component (interactive sentences) vs the cognitive component (associative sentences); (d) a decrease in the interactive sentences with Ego present in the text vs those without Ego present. Results are discussed in the light of interference and repression hypotheses.