Experiencing “continuity”: A qualitative investigation of waking life in dreams.

Malinowski, Josie E.; Fylan, Fiona; Horton, Caroline L.

doi:10.1037/a0037305

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…To take an example from research, in an interview study we discussed with participants many aspects of dreams that were metaphors for their waking life, such as one participant’s dream of the ‘Starship Enterprise’ taking off from Earth representing her new entrepreneurial career ‘taking off,’ and another participant who dreamt of a demon being released as representing the release of his own ‘inner demon’ ( Malinowski et al, 2014 ). These dreams conformed to the three agreed elements of dream metaphors above: they concretely pictured something abstract from waking life; they were about emotional aspects of their life; and it was necessary to talk in detail with the dreamer about what was going on currently in their life in order to understand the metaphor.…”

Section: The Emotion Assimilation Theory Of Sleep and Dreamingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The fact that dreams involve elements unknown to the dreamer (such as characters or activities that the dreamer has not had direct experience of in waking life) is not evidence against the notion of these being distant memory associations, because memory consolidation does not involve merely strengthening memories for literal recall, but also extraction of the gist of the memory ( Wamsley, 2014 ). Indeed, we have found that ‘generic’ elements occur frequently in dreams, such that people dream of recognizable ‘types’ – which come from an amalgamation of a variety of specific waking-life memories, but not any one particular memory – which are akin to ‘extras’ in a film ( Malinowski et al, 2014 ). For example, one participant dreamt of a generic bookshop and a generic bookshop assistant, which comes from a combination of various experiences of bookshops and bookshop assistants, but without being any particular place or person from memory.…”

Section: The Emotion Assimilation Theory Of Sleep and Dreamingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming

Malinowski

Horton

2015

Front. Psychol.

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In this paper we propose an emotion assimilation function of sleep and dreaming. We offer explanations both for the mechanisms by which waking-life memories are initially selected for processing during sleep, and for the mechanisms by which those memories are subsequently transformed during sleep. We propose that emotions act as a marker for information to be selectively processed during sleep, including consolidation into long term memory structures and integration into pre-existing memory networks; that dreaming reflects these emotion assimilation processes; and that the associations between memory fragments activated during sleep give rise to measureable elements of dream metaphor and hyperassociativity. The latter are a direct reflection, and the phenomenological experience, of emotional memory assimilation processes occurring during sleep. While many theories previously have posited a role for emotion processing and/or emotional memory consolidation during sleep and dreaming, sleep theories often do not take enough account of important dream science data, yet dream research, when conducted systematically and under ideal conditions, can greatly enhance theorizing around the functions of sleep. Similarly, dream theories often fail to consider the implications of sleep-dependent memory research, which can augment our understanding of dream functioning. Here, we offer a synthesized view, taking detailed account of both sleep and dream data and theories. We draw on extensive literature from sleep and dream experiments and theories, including often-overlooked data from dream science which we believe reflects sleep phenomenology, to bring together important ideas and findings from both domains.

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Section: The Emotion Assimilation Theory Of Sleep and Dreamingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Emotion Assimilation Theory Of Sleep and Dreamingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming

Malinowski

Horton

2015

Front. Psychol.

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“…The procedure, detailed below, allows for the full describing of as much as can be remembered of the dream, the description by the dreamer of their recent waking life events and concerns before the dream, and the bringing together of these accounts of the dream and of waking life, so as to explore their connections. The Schredl dream group method (Schredl, 2007, 2011; Malinowski et al, 2014), also detailed below, aims to assist the dreamer in identifying common action and emotion patterns present in his or her dream and in his or her waking life. In both the Ullman and Schredl techniques, there is a phase in which the dream group can ask questions of the dreamer, in an attempt to consider connections between the content of the dream and the waking life experiences of the dreamer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing personal insight gains due to consideration of a recent dream and consideration of a recent event using the Ullman and Schredl dream group methods

et al. 2015

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There have been reports and claims in the psychotherapeutic literature that the consideration of recent dreams can result in personal realizations and insight. There is theoretical support for these claims from work on rapid eye movement (REM) sleep having a function of the consolidation of emotional memories and the creative formation of connections between new and older memories. To investigate these claims, 11 participants (10 females, one male) reported and considered a recent home dream in a dream discussion group that following the “Appreciating dreams” method of Montague Ullman. The group ran 11 times, each participant attending and participating once. A further nine participants (seven females, two males) reported and considered a recent home dream in a group that followed the “Listening to the dreamer” method of Michael Schredl. The two studies each had a control condition where the participant also reported a recent event, the consideration of which followed the same technique as was followed for the dream report. Outcomes of the discussions were assessed by the participants on the Gains from Dream Interpretation (GDI) scale, and on its counterpart, the Gains from Event Interpretation scale. High ratings on the GDI experiential-insight subscale were reported for both methods, when applied to dreams, and for the Ullman method Exploration-Insight ratings for the dream condition were significantly higher than for the control event condition. In the Ullman method, self-assessment of personal insight due to consideration of dream content was also significantly higher than for the event consideration condition. The findings support the view that benefits can be obtained from the consideration of dream content, in terms of identifying the waking life sources of dream content, and because personal insight may also occur. To investigate the mechanisms for the findings, the studies should be repeated with REM and non-REM dream reports, hypothesizing greater insight from the former.

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“…Previous studies that have examined different kinds of continuity between dream and wake experiences include those by Schredl and Hofmann (2003), Hobson and Schredl (2011), Schredl (2000, 2003, 2006), Horton (2017), Horton and Malinowski (2011), Malinowski et al (2014), Malinowski and Horton (2011, 2015), Kahn and Hobson (2003, 2005a), Kahan and LaBerge (2011), Kahan et al (1997), Domhoff (2011), Kozmová and Wolman (2006), Samson and De Koninck (1986), Sutton et al (1994), Llewellyn (2011, 2013).…”

Section: Introduction: Continuity and Non-continuitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Reactions to Dream Content: Continuity and Non-continuity

Kahn¹

2019

Front. Psychol.

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Although dream content may at times be quite outlandish or illogical, the dreamer’s emotional reactions to these events are not outlandish or illogical. Our study shows that the dreamer’s emotional reaction to people and events are similar to what they would have been in wake life. There is continuity between the emotional reactions of the dream and wake-self, even though situations may arise that are not likely or possible in wake life. For example, a dream may include people and places that span different times that are weaved together as if they were occurring at the moment. Further, the behavior of the dream-self is often different than that of the wake-self. When this happens, there is a non-continuity between the behavior of the dream and wake-self. Thus, there is both continuity and non-continuity between the dream and wake-self: Continuity in emotional reactions and non-continuity in the kinds of situations and behaviors that occur while dreaming. In the Kahn and Hobson, 2005a study, 58.7% of participants reported that their thinking within the context of the dream was similar to what it would have been had they been awake. About 55.1% of participants also reported that their thinking about the context of the dream was different than it would have been had they been awake. This difference affords the dream-self with novel experiences but that still elicit emotional reactions that are similar to how its wake-self would react. In essentially, every case when a comment was given to the question on thinking in the Kahn and Hobson, 2005a study, participants reported about how they emotionally reacted within the context of the dream and how they emotionally reacted about the content of the dream in comparison to how they would have reacted if awake.

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Experiencing “continuity”: A qualitative investigation of waking life in dreams.

Cited by 13 publications

References 31 publications

Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming

Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming

Comparing personal insight gains due to consideration of a recent dream and consideration of a recent event using the Ullman and Schredl dream group methods

Reactions to Dream Content: Continuity and Non-continuity

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