Presleep Determinants of Dream Content: Effects of Two Films
David Foulkes, Allan Rechtschaffen
Perceptual and Motor Skills December 1, 1964 DOI: 10.2466/pms.1964.19.3.983 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental within-subjects sleep laboratory study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 24 |
| Population | Adult sleep laboratory participants (S s) whose dreams were collected across two experimental nights |
| Duration | Two experimental nights (one violent, one nonviolent presleep stimulus) |
| Measures | REM reports, MMPI clinical scales, ratings of dream-like features of sleep mentation |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Key findings | REM dream reports following a violent TV episode were longer and rated more imaginative, vivid, and emotional than those following a nonviolent episode, but were not more unpleasant or more violent. Direct incorporation of either film's content was very infrequent. MMPI clinical scales correlated positively with ratings of dream-like features of sleep mentation, and waking and sleeping fantasy showed stylistic similarities but little similarity in instinctual content. |
Abstract
Twenty-four S s were exposed to controlled presleep stimuli. On one experimental night, they saw a violent episode, on the other, a nonviolent episode, from a TV western series. Dreams were collected using Dement and Kleitman's electrophysiological methods, by means of which rapid eye movement (REM) periods were used to identify “dream” periods. REM reports following the violent episode were longer, and more imaginative, vivid, and emotional, but neither more unpleasant nor more violent, than those following the nonviolent film. Direct incorporation of the content of either film was very infrequent. It was also shown that MMPI clinical scales correlated positively with ratings of many “dream-like” features of sleep mentation, and that, although there were stylistic similarities between waking and sleeping fantasy, there was little similarity in instinctual content. Finally, recent findings on the extent and nature of sleep mentation occurring outside REM periods were almost totally confirmed.
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 |
| Incorporation of concern- and nonconcern-related verbal stimuli into dream content. Seven male subjects studied during sleep Stages 2 and REM | 1981 | Experimental study | n = 7 |
| 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 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 36
- Dream Recall: State or Trait Variable? Part I: Model, Theories, Methodology and Trait Factors Imagination, Cognition and Personality October 1, 1996
- Structural differences between REM and non-REM dream reports assessed by graph analysis PLoS One July 23, 2020
- A Novel Approach to Dream Content Analysis Reveals Links Between Learning-Related Dream Incorporation and Cognitive Abilities Frontiers in Psychology August 6, 2018
- Dream Recall: State or Trait Variable? Part II: State Factors, Investigations and Final Conclusions Imagination, Cognition and Personality March 1, 1997
- Dreaming of the sleep lab PLoS One October 6, 2021
and 31 more in the library