1. (Sleeping & Dreaming) AICE AS Level Psychology
Dement & Kleitman (1957)
(Sleeping & Dreaming) AICE AS Level Psychology

2. Background on Sleep
Before the study took place, a connection between REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and dreaming was commonplace based on SUBJECTIVE data
Physiological approach to dreaming is that dreams are random firings of neurons that we put meaning to
Very different than Freud’s idea that dreams are our unconscious thoughts & urges coming to light

3. Measuring Sleep
During a typical night, a sleeper passes through different levels of sleep in a cyclic fashion every 90 minutes
Main ways of Measuring Sleep
EEG- measures gross brain wave activity
EMG- Measures electrical activity of muscles
EOG- measures eye movement

5. Stages of Sleep Awake (before drifting off)
-measured by EEG (typically beta waves)
-but when relaxed, brain waves slow, become more regular,
and have greater amplitude (now alpha waves)
Asleep Level 1 and 2
-light sleep characterized by irregular EEG patterns.
-drifting off to sleep, the brain slows further & yields
greater wave frequency & amplitude (theta waves)

6. Stages of Sleep Asleep Level 3 and 4
-Deeper levels of sleep characterized by delta waves (slowest
w/highest amplitude)
-Level 4 considered ‘deep sleep’
-More difficult to wake someone, but will respond to
significant noises (alarm, baby crying, etc.)

7. Stages of Sleep
Sleep cycle goes from … 3-2-REM… 2, 3, 4… 3-2- REM roughly every 90 minutes
After Stage 4, the sleeper goes back down the ‘sleep staircase’ to Stage 2 and there is a period of REM sleep lasting 15 to 20 minutes (replaces Stage 1). These sleep states alternate during the night starting with a rapid descent into deep sleep, followed by
progressively increased episodes of
lighter sleep and REM sleep

8. Stages of Sleep (Staircase)

9. “It’s the End of the World As We Know it… And I feel Fine”- REM Sleep
Named for darting eye movements that are visible to the naked eye and measured through a EOG
Characteristics:
-fast, irregular EEG activity similar to awake state
-temporary paralysis (lack of muscle tone)
-through the night, REM episodes INCREASE and delta sleep
decreases (eventually to none)
-pons plays a role in sleep- sends
signals to visual system (thalamus &
cerebral cortex) and to spinal cord

10. Background to Study
In 1955, Aserinksy & Kleitman concluded that there was more dream activity in REM then NREM sleep
Problem was data was based largely on subject recall that was error-filled from forgetting, falsifying, or demand characteristics
Stemming from this, Dement (his student) & Kleitman theorized that, through an EEG, one can OBJECTIVELY measure whether someone was dreaming or not by investigating whether REM sleep significantly correlated with dreaming

11. Aim of the Study
Overall, aim was to see if the physiological aspects of REM sleep related to the subjects’ experiences of dreaming
Also, D&K wanted to observe and record the length, frequency, and patterns of Ps REM sleep

12. Hypotheses H1- There will be a significant association b/w REM sleep
and dreaming (would help establish that measuring
REM is objective)
H2- There is a significant positive correlation b/w the
estimate of time spent dreaming and the
measurement of REM sleep
H3- There is a relationship b/w the pattern
of eye movement and reported
content of the dream

13. Methodology- Design & Participants
‘Natural’ lab experiment in a lab setting carried out at the U of Chicago (no mention of recruitment)
IV= awoken in REM or NREM sleep, DV= self-report of dreams
Participants
7M & 2F (5 intensely investigated for 6-17 nights & 4 to
confirm findings for 1-2 nights)
Ps instructed to avoid alcohol & caffeine (used as control),
but were told to eat normally
Ps reported to lab just before regular
bedtime (slept in quiet & dark room)

14. Methodology- Data Collection
H1- Quantitative- measured EEG patterns in REM & NREM
sleep as reported by Ps recall
H2- Quantitative- EEG patterns in REM sleep and Ps
estimated time of dreaming compared for
correlational data
H3- Qualitative- data on dream content compared to
observations on the movement
of Ps eyes

15. Methodology- Materials
Sleep University of Chicago
EEG machine to measure sleep objectively
Electrodes were gathered at the top of Ps head into a single cord
Doorbell used to wake up Ps
Tape recorder used to record Ps recollections of what they were dreaming about

16. Procedure- Testing H1
At various times during the night (both during REM and
N-REM sleep), Ps were awakened to test their dream
recall (random assignment in some sense)
The Ps were woken up by a loud doorbell ringing close to
their bed. The participant then had to speak into a tape
recorder near the bed.
They were instructed to first state whether or not they
had been dreaming and then, if they could, to report
the content of the dream
The Ps were only recorded as having
dreamed if they were able to relate a
coherent and relatively detailed
description of the dream content

17. Procedure- Testing H2
The Ps were awoken (via the bell) at random or specific times by
D&K at either 5 mins or 15 mins into a REM period
Then asked to say into the recorder
(a) if they were dreaming
(b) if so, a description of the dream (if possible)
(c) An estimation of if they were dreaming for 5 or 15 mins
Es usually listened outside the room
but sometimes further questioned the Ps
inside the room

18. Procedure- Testing H3
The Ps were woken up one minute after 1 of 4 patterns of eye movement occurred
-a-mainly vertical c-both vertical & horizontal
b-mainly horizontal d-little/no eye movement
The Ps were to tell what they were dreaming about
D&K then analyzed data to detail patterns b/w the eye movement
Totals= 351 awakenings over 61 nights (5.7/P)
21% in first 2 hrs, 29% in 3-4 hrs,
28% in 5-6 hrs, 22% in 7-8 hr

19. “Losing My ReligioN” Results for REM sleep
REM never occurred at the start of the sleep cycle
All the Ps showed periods of REM, characterized by a low voltage, relatively fast pattern EEG
The avg. occurrence of REM sleep was once every 92 minutes, with range of group b/w minutes
REM lasted b/w mins, and increased in time as night progressed (avg REM was 20 mins)
Eye movement had bursts b/w 2-100
If P was awoken during REM in the final
hours of sleep, P often went back to REM
sleep, like the brain activity did not finish

20. Results for H1
*dreaming was deemed to have occurred if the subject could give a relatively coherent & detailed description of the dream
More dreams were reported in REM than NREM sleep (shown in both EEG and Ps recall) (see Table 1)
When Ps were awoken closer to REM sleep(Within 8 mins), they displayed better recall of dreams
When Ps were awoken in deep NREM sleep, they were
bewildered & said that they were dreaming
but couldn’t describe the content
Dream recall increased through the night

21. Results for H1 Results show that REM sleep is predominantly
Table 1- instances of dream recall after REM & NREM
Results show that REM sleep is predominantly
associated with dreaming, and NREM
sleep is associated with periods of
non-dreaming sleep

22. Results for H2
results revealed that all but one of the participants were able to choose the correct dream duration fairly accurately
participant (DN) could only recall the latter part of the dream and so underestimated its length (refer to Table 2)
Correlations were found to be significant, ranging
from .40 to .71 for each participants
Findings show that we dream relatively
in real time

23. Results for H2
Table 2- Results of dream duration estimates after 5/15 mins

24. Results for H3
Findings suggests that the eye movements of subjects are related to the dream content
Indicates that the eyes were moving as if seeing what the P was dreaming about
Examples:
Vertical- looking down a cliff or up a ladder and shooting basketballs
horizontal- throwing tomatoes at each other
H&V- interacting with and/or looking at close objects
no movement- associated with distance
objects or stationary ones

25. Discussion ALL THREE HYPOTHESES CONFIRMED
Results obtained by waking subjects strongly support the correlation b/w REM sleep and dreaming
Cannot definitively say that dreaming did not occur in other stages, but doubtful in many cases
instances of ‘dreaming’ in NREM were not reliable in the recordings & may have been from REM memories
Based on data, dreams ‘occur in real time’
Comparing to previous studies, D&K said
that previous methodology lacked
enough measurements
such as not amplifying the EEG enough
or recording only samples of sleep

26. Strengths & Weaknesses
Scientific/objective measurements, but the self report of dreaming & content was subjective
Sample size and makeup (cannot generalize)
No background provided for Ps (can be Ethnocentric)
Method of waking subject may have influenced ability to recall dreams
Correlation does not mean causation!

27. Ethical & Ecological Considerations
Ethics (Remember, this predated strict guidelines)
No mention of informed consent or rtw
No significant harm or stress to Ps
Ecological Validity-
lab experiment lowers it
Sleeping with wires on
Sleeping being watched
Sleeping in strange room

28. Usefulness
Study was a generative one- it sparked new waves into sleep research
Subsequent studies have not supported D&K’s findings that there is a relationship between eye movements and what the person is dreaming about
Studies have claimed that NREM sleep can show similar EEG results and thus question the exclusiveness in REM sleep