No abstract

Two groups of student subjects and one group of client subjects were monitored by electroencephalogram, electrooculogram, galvanic skin response, and finger pulse response during free imagery, free imagery recall, dream recall, and emergent uncovering psychotherapy. The results showed that visual imagery per se did not desynchronize occipital alpha; however, dream revisualization and images accompanied by an electrophysiological pattern of anxiety ("hot" images) were associated with alpha desynchronization. The effort of revisualization also was found to be an influencing variable, but it was not as desynehronizing as was dream recall. The client subjects showed more direct representation of drives in their visual imagery than the student subjects, and several of them experienced the uncovering of repressed material. Five of the client subjects and three of the student subjects manifested symptoms during at least one of the conditions. The failure of percent alpha to decrease during the appearance of symptoms and subjective distress was inconsistent with the so-called alpha state.