The Psychology Behind Dreams

Why do some people remember their dreams and others do not?

[dreammems-blog]

Final thoughts (11/27)

Throughout all of my research I feel as though I have come to the conclusion that there is in fact no right answer. The research is all relatively new and there will be more data to come. The results that I did find, have left me with a sense of satisfaction as well as a new found interest. I believe that all of my sources, though some conflicting, have given me several reasons as to why only certain people can remember their dreams. I did not get to touch on dream interpretations, which I find extremely intriguing, but I hope to continue my research outside of this blog as well. Overall, there seems to be various factors that play a role into dream recollection and no single aspect can explain it entirely. As for the future, I am excited to explore new research results as well as digging deeper into the idea of lucid dreaming. 

[dreammems-blog]

Tips (11/26)

For my final research session I decided to search for tips and tricks that can help one to remember their dreams more often. I think that these tips overall help dream remembrance and lucid dreaming simultaneously. The Dream Moods site that I selected gave 9 tips for helping with dreams and I am going to talk about a few that I think are the most important. 

The first tip they listed explained that by motivating yourself to remember dreams, it will actually help you to remember them more often. For this to work, one simply must clear their mind of scattered thoughts as best as possible. These thoughts act as distractions, so by clearing them the mind is able to stay focused. I feel as though this tip is hinting at the idea of mind over matter. If one is determined to remember their dreams, they can. It is really about staying positive and motivated throughout the dreaming process. I am a little conflicted though because in one of my previous sources it stated that focusing on specific thoughts actually helps to dream of them. Which idea is more accurate?

The second tip explains that having a regular sleeping schedule can help in dream recollection as well. This tip seems fairly obvious to me but I don't think many people actually have regular schedules. By sleeping the same amount of time every night, the body receives better quality sleep which in turn presents better dream recollection. 

Their eighth tip, and my third, is to talk about the dreams out loud. They say that talking to anyone and everyone about dreams can help to bring the dreams into reality. This makes complete sense to me. The more repetition words have, the more set in stone they become. I think that discussing various dreams will help one to solidify them in real life. 

A couple of other tips they suggest include: drawing pictures of dreams, avoiding alcohol and other medication, and staying encouraged. The key to making these tips work is to not simply understand what they are saying but finding ways to apply them. In my opinion, one needs to find ways to connect the information into their daily life so real differences can be seen. 

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/recallingdreams2.htm

[iloveluciddreaming]

How To Keep An Awesome Dream Journal!

In todays short video I’m going to show you how to keep a dream journal AND I’ll show you how you can use your dream diary to control your dreams and induce lucid dreaming!

[iloveluciddreaming]

Some crazy lucid dreaming stories and experiences from my first lucid dream.

[iloveluciddreaming]

Is lucid dreaming actually really, really real? Damn right it is.

But if you are still unsure check this video!

[dreammems-blog]

Lucid Dreaming (11/21)

This post will introduce lucid dreaming and how it relates to dream recollection. This source was found on The Huffington post. The blog was written back in 2015 by Van Winkle’s and was last updated in 2016. In researching this idea, I hope to find out ways to help one with lucid dreaming. 

Lucid dreaming is simply when one can recognize they are dreaming during the REM stage of sleep. Dr. Stephen LaBerge was one of the first researchers to study the idea of lucid dreaming. He explains that lucid dreamers can identify themselves in their dreams and act intentionally while dreaming. People who are regular lucid dreamers may be able to control their own dreams and possibly attempt the impossible within their dreams. Many may not believe that lucid dreaming is real but personally I do. I think that lucid dreaming would take a great amount of self control as well as patience. There have been moments that I’ve been aware of dreaming but shortly after those realizations, I would wake up. I believe that if people could tap in to their dreamworld, it would increase their mental ability significantly. It would not only introduce a new fantasy world to people but it would also show them a whole new way to control their mind. 

This specific blog post gives a few percentages of the commonality of lucid dreaming. It explains that roughly 20% of people have at least one lucid dream per month. The writing also suggests that in a lifetime, nearly 60% of people will experience a lucid dream. The second statistic is a little hard to grasp solely because I do not know anyone who has experienced lucid dreaming. Is this because people are simply not educated on the topic of lucid dreaming?

I talked earlier about how I thought lucid dreaming would benefit people and it turns out that in fact lucid dreaming does have a few pros. The first benefit of lucid dreaming is better problem solving skills. This makes sense to me because one has to figure out how to enter their own dreams, which I assume is not easy. Are my assumptions wrong, or is it in fact easy to tap into the dreamworld? An incline in creativity is another possible outcome of lucid dreaming. I would like to think this outcome is self explanatory simply because one would need creativity to create their own dreams. Because the dreamer creates their own dreams, they will have less nightmares and overall a better quality of sleep. If one dreams of what they want, there should be little to no disturbances. If people are aware that they are controlling their dreams, would they full recall their dreams in the morning?

At the end of the blog they list a few tips to help one become a lucid dreamer. Other lucid dreamers explain that paying attention to behavior while awake can help in the dreaming world. By thinking of specific thoughts before bed, it may help the mind to dream about those topics. This last paragraph has introduced several questions for myself. I would like to know more in depth how to become a lucid dreamer and other tips that would be beneficial. I also wonder if there are certain kinds of people that are able to become lucid dreamers easier than others. This session did answer several questions I had but it did not really touch on how lucid dreaming relates to dream recollection.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-winkles/what-is-lucid-dreaming-an_b_7663492.html

[dreammems-blog]

Dream Journals (11/20)

Personally, I think dream journals are fascinating and would be very intriguing to read. This next source I found with a google search by typing in: Can dream journals help you remember dreams? It was the second link and it was on the Psychology Today page. The article was written by Kelly Bulkeley, who designs databases to promote dream research. His writing talks about how to keep a dream journal and some of the benefits that go along with one.

To start a dream journal, Bulkeley has a few tips of advice. He suggests that the dreamer writes down their first dream, reoccurring dreams, and any other memorable dreams. By recording these, it helps one to explore various themes and patterns within their dreams. Many journalists keep a pen and paper next to them while sleeping so as soon as they wakeup, they can record their dreams, explains Bulkeley. 

He then describes a typical journal entry and what it consists of. The date, the location of sleep, the period, and the quality of sleep are oftentimes found in most entries. Even if one does not remember any dreams, he explains that at least basic information about their sleep will be gathered. 

Moving on to specific details about dreams, Bulkeley says that the minor parts are what mater the most. Many dreamers often leave out obvious details from their dreams but he says those details are what can help the most. He also says that recording feelings that dreams bring can help one to understand the dreams better. Journals may include memories and particular situations relating to the dreams.

Bulkeley believes that dream journals are treasurable to the individual and they provide many connections over time. They grow in depth over time and bridge together different moments. 

I agree with what Bulkeley has to say about dream journals and at this point I think that most of it isn’t controversial. In my perspective, dream journals can do nothing but help one get a better understanding about their dreams and sleeping patterns. This source does not spark many questions but it does ignite interest in a dream journal for myself. I think it would be very interesting to read and remember previous dreams and see how they change over the years.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dreaming-in-the-digital-age/201705/keeping-dream-journal

[dreammems-blog]

Waking Period (11/19)

For this post I would like to discuss my chosen source a bit differently. Instead of summarizing the writing and then voicing my opinion, I am going to discuss sections at a time. By doing things this way, I hope that it will make the post more engaging and practical. The title of this article is: “The Tricky Science of Remembering Dreams.”

The rhetor starts things off by explaining how people have dreams of some sort in every stage of sleep. Researchers agree that the most activity occurs during REM sleep but it is not limited solely to the REM stage. I found this interesting because it completely contradicts my thoughts from my previous post. I always thought that dreams occur only in the REM stage but to my surprise they can occur in other stages as well. 

They go on to explain how there is a critical waking period that has an influence over wether or not one remembers their dreams. The brain has to transition from its sleeping mode to its awake mode which can take around 15 minutes. Several studies have been done to see if disturbances during this transition period have an affect on dream remembrance. The results are inconclusive and it remains a posing question. Schredl, a researcher from the Central Institute of Mental Health located in Germany, suggests that gradually waking up versus suddenly waking up can decrease one’s chances of remembering their dreams. After reading this section, I tried to think of possible intrusions that could affect the critical waking period. I would assume that alarms and other loud, sudden noises would harm the ability to remember dreams. I am a little confused though because alarms would cause for a sudden awakening which they claim helps one to remember dreams. 

Next, they move on to a new idea of how personality may play a role as well. The rhetor explains that creative and imaginative people are better at recalling their dreams. Along with creative people, daydreamers also have an advantage at remembering their dreams. Age and gender also play a part in the ability to remember. Young adults, along with women, have better chances at remembering dreams than do older people and men. Most of this came off as common sense to me because I have read and heard several other studies that indicate similar results. As I was reading this though, I couldn’t help but relate it to myself. I am an artist and would consider myself creative but I can hardly remember any of my dreams. This has me wondering how strong these correlations actually are. 

At the end of the writing, they explain how they feel dream recollection may not be concluded and still needs further research. They also introduce the idea of dream journals and say how they might be a helpful tool in remembering dreams. I think dream journals are interesting and would be useful to keep dreams organized. Overall, I feel that this article was informative and also credible. I wish they explored dream journals a bit more because I think that the data would be interesting. Maybe my next article will discuss more details about dream journals. 

https://vanwinkles.com/why-do-we-have-so-much-trouble-remembering-our-dreams

[dreammems-blog]

Recallers (11/17)

For my first research period I went on google and simply typed in my question. I clicked on the first link which was to a website called Live Science, with an article titled: “Why Some Remember Dreams, Others Don’t.” This article was fairly brief but I think it was an interesting concept. The article suggested that people who respond more frequently to their name, tend to remember their dreams more often. Researchers in a study of 36 participants used electroencephalography to measure the participants brain activity while hearing their name occasionally. Two groups arose from this study, which were high recallers and low recallers. The high recallers report being able to remember their dreams almost daily whereas low recallers were limited to a remembrance of 1-2 dreams a month. The groups heard and responded to their name about the same amount of times while asleep but the differences arose while the participants were awake. The high recallers have a decreased alpha wave throughout their brain which means more regions of their brain are being jump started from sounds or alarms. Low recallers awoke for roughly 14 minutes during the night whereas high recallers were awake for about 30 mins at night. Because of the alpha waves in the high recallers, researchers think that when they are alarmed during the night they tend to wakeup for longer periods of time. Their conclusion from this is that if one awakes after a dream they are more likely to remember the dream than if they didn't wake up at all. 

This was a really interesting idea to me and it sparked a few questions as well. The first question I have is: Is there a way that one can become more aware to their own name? If someone were to focus really well on hearing and possibly even practice, I would like to think that their senses would improve thus making them able to remember more dreams. I also wonder if individual personalities would play a role in this study. Some people are just innately better at focusing on details and paying attention to the little things. I believe that drawing conclusions on dreams solely from hearing one’s name, is not nearly enough. Another question I have is: What kind of sleepers were the participants? Personally, I know people who could sleep through tornados and others who would wakeup at small creaks and minor noises. I think results would depend on the deepness of one’s sleep. It would be interesting to see research on the participants stages of sleep. Because most dreams occur during REM sleep, I wonder about the statistics of participants who in fact reached REM sleep.

I think this was a good first source to get me thinking about the subject but this source does not provide the factual evidence that I would like to see. 

https://www.livescience.com/38856-why-people-recall-dreams.html

[dreammems-blog]

The Beginning (11/17)

This blog was created to explore the realm of dreams and specifically how dreams relate to psychology. My question of topic is: Why do some people remember their dreams and others do not? I think dreams are fascinating and there is so much I would love to learn about them, including: dream interpretations, dream journals, and all of the interesting facts about dreams. It may be a bit hard to enlighten myself on all of these areas but I hope I will gain ideas and answers that spill over into new questions. I plan to focus this blog on the question of policy. Policy relates to the action, involvement, and problems of specific topics. In the sense of dreams and action, I hope to find information and theories that try to answer my question. I believe the involvement will consist of the dreamers themselves, peers, and scientists. Finally, I plan on trying to find ways for others to remember their dreams more often and in more detail. Overall I think this is a very intriguing field of research and I am excited to see what I find.