REPRESSION, INTERFERENCE AND FIELD DEPENDENCE AS FACTORS IN DREAM FORGETTING1
Donald R. Goodenough, Herman A. Witkin, Helen Lewis, David Koulack, Harvey D. Cohen
ETS Research Bulletin Series December 1, 1973 DOI: 10.1002/j.2333-8504.1973.tb00844.x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Field-dependent and field-independent participants (number not stated) |
| Topics | Addiction |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key findings | Presleep stress increased arousal during REM sleep and the affect in dream reports, and the most affectful dreams were best recalled. Field-dependent participants reported dream content less often on stress nights than neutral nights, while field-independent participants showed no stress effect on dream report frequency. The authors interpret this in terms of repression theory or, alternatively, stress-produced anxiety interfering with attentional processes needed for dream recall at awakening. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT A number of hypotheses about the effects of presleep stress on dream recall among field‐dependent and field‐independent Ss were tested to explore the role of repression and of dream affect in dream recall. The effect of presleep stress was to increase arousal during REM sleep and affect in dream reports. The data also suggest that the most affectful dreams are best recalled. Among field‐dependent Ss dream content was reported less frequently on stress than on neutral nights, but no stress effect on dream report frequency was found among field‐independent Ss. The results are discussed in terms of repression theory, and in terms of a possible alternative explanation that stress‐produced anxiety interferes with attentional processes required for dream recall at the moment of awakening.