1. The typical dreams in the life cycle Alfio Maggiolini, Mauro di Lorenzo, Elisa Falotico, Denise Gargioni Minotauro and Department of Psychology, University of Milan-Bicocca Milan, Italy
ISAPP/ASAP, NEW YORK, 2015

2. Overview What’s a typical dream?
Which are the most frequent typical dreams?
Do they change in the life cycle?
Which are the typical dreams in adolescence?
How the psychoanalytical dreams’ interpretation changes from this perspective.
A new look at typical dreams and their metaphorical meaning.

3. What’s a typical dream?
“Dreams in which there is a frequent recurrence, in the dreams of different persons, of the same manifest dream-content” (Freud, 1900).
“Dreams with similar contents reported by a high percentage of dreamers, but not necessarily occurring with high frequency within the person’s dreams” (Mathes, Schredl, Göritz, 2014).
Contents typical of dreams compared to other narratives: how we think while dreaming.

4. Typical dreams in Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams (1900)
The embarrassment-dream of nakedness
Dreams of the death of beloved people
Examination dream
Dream of missing a train
Dream due to dental stimulus
Flying or hovering
Falling
Swimming
Dream of passing through narrow alleys
Whole suite of rooms
Dream of burglars
Dream of being chased by wild animals
Dream of being threatened with knives, daggers and lances

5. Interpretations of falling dreams (Saul, Curtis, 1967)
The sensation of falling asleep.
The transformation of a real risk of falling from bed.
The repetition of traumatic experiences of falling or sensations of falling from the parents’ arms in childhood.
The desire to abandon oneself to sexual impulses.
The grand Self in dangerous situations.
The loss of mental equilibrium or of self-control.
Ambition.
Erection and the loss of erection in masturbation.
Birth.
The renouncement of effort and responsibility.
Some exciting experiences like flying in an airplane.
Typical dreams may have many interpretations. This is an example of possibile interpretations of falling dreams,

6. How many typical dreams?
There is a wide range of classifications of typical dreams (Freud, 1900; Ward, Beck, & Rascoe, 1961; Grinstein, 1983; Stevens, 1995; Delaney, 1997; Garfield, 2001; Nielsen et al., 2003).
The most prevalent dreams (Griffith, Miyagi, Tago, 1958).
Being attacked or pursued (83.5%);
falling (78.2%);
trying again and again to do something (78.6%);
school, teachers, and studying (78.2%)
Griffith, Miyagi, and Tago (1958) found the most prevalent themes in American and Japanese students.
About 80% of people remembers having had a dream of being attacked, falling and so on.

7. Research on typical dreams
Typical Dreams Questionnaire:
a number of typical dreams are experienced by most people, relatively steadily across time and cultures
(Nielsen, et al. 2003; Nielsen et al., 1999; Zadra, Nielsen, 1997; Zadra, Nielsen, 1999; Yu, 2008; Yu, 2009; Schredl et al., 2003; Schredl et al., 2004, Schredl et al., 2014, Mathes et al., 2014).
Recent research studies, carried out in a number of countries with the Typical Dreams Questionnaire have shown that a number of typical dreams are experienced by most people, relatively steadily across time and cultures

8. Typical Dreams Questionnaire (55 items)
1. being chased or pursued, but not physically injured 2. being physically attacked (beaten, stabbed, raped, etc) 3. trying again and again to do something 4. being frozen with fright 5. eating delicious foods 6. arriving too late, e.g., missing a train 7. swimming 8. being locked up 9. snakes 10. finding money 11. flying or soaring through the air 12. falling 13. being inappropriately dressed 14. being nude 15. being tied, unable to move
16. having superior knowledge or mental ability 17. creatures, part animal, part human 18. your teeth falling out/losing your teeth 19. seeing yourself in a mirror 20. having magical powers (other than flying or floating through the air) 21. floods or tidal waves 22. tornadoes or strong winds 23. earthquakes 24. insects or spiders 25. being a member of the opposite sex 26. being an object (e.g., tree or rock) 27. being killed
This is the TDQ with fifty five items.Some of them are really widespread.

9. 28. seeing yourself as dead 29
28. seeing yourself as dead 29. vividly sensing, but not necessarily seeing or hearing, a presence in the room 30. being unable to find, or embarrassed about using, a toilette 31. school, teachers, studying 32. sexual experiences 33. losing control of a vehicle 34. fire 35. a person now dead as alive 36. a person now alive as dead 37. being on the verge of falling 38. failing an examination 39. being smothered, unable to breathe 40. wild, violent beasts
41. being at a movie 42. killing someone 43. lunatics or insane people 44. being half awake and paralyzed in bed 45. seeing a face very close to you 46. seeing a UFO 47. seeing extra-terrestrials 48. traveling to another planet or visiting a different part of the universe 49. being an animal 50. being a child again 51. seeing an angel 52. encountering God in some form 53. discovering a new room at home 54. seeing a flying object crash (e.g., airplane) 55. someone having an abortion
But Ttere are also many items that are not so frequent in dreams.

10. The most frequent typical dreams Questionnaires (Nielsen et al
The most frequent typical dreams Questionnaires (Nielsen et al., 2003; Schredl et al., 2004; Yu, 2008)
TDQ items
Canadian
German
Chinese
Rank %
Being chased or pursued, not physically injured (1) 1
81.5 2
88.7
92.2
Sexual experiences (32)
76.5 3
86.7 10
70.1
Falling ( 12)
73.8 4
74.3
87.1
School, teachers and studying (31)
67.1
89.2
94.5
Arriving too late (6) 5
59.5
68.5
80.5
Being on the verge of falling (37) 6
57.7 9
56.5 12
66.7
Trying again and again to do someth. (3) 7
53.5 23
30.4
74.1
A person now alive as dead ( 36) 8
54.1
68.0
75.0
Flying or soaring through the air (11)
48.3
63.5
73.9
A presence in the room ( 29)
43.8 33
23.6 21
51.4
Failing an examination (38) 11
45.0
60.8
79.3
Being physically attacked (2)
42.4
44.8 14
65.2
Researches carried out with the tdq found the most prevalent themes in different countries, with a high rank stability, even if Chinese people dream less of sex than canadian and german students and more of failing an examination.

11. Open issues about typical dreams
It is difficult to reach a shared list of typical dreams. Nielsen has excluded some items from Griffith et al. (1958)’s list, while adding some new ones. Yu et al. (2008) listed 110 dreams motifs!
Not all the items listed in TDQ are equally widespread (Yu et al., 2008).
The items are not homogeneous (school, snakes, falling).
We don’t have an empirically based list of typical dreams.
Do they change in the life cycle?
Even if the majority of people remember some typical dream, how frequent are these themes in dream texts?

12. A research on dreams and waking narratives in the life cycle
A way to find what is typical in dreams is to compare dreams and waking narratives (Reis, Montangero, Pons, 1999; Hartmann, 2011; Schwartz, 2004, Maggiolini et al., 2010).
For each subject, from youngsters to the elderly, a dream and a waking narrative were collected according to “the most recent dream” method (Hartmann et al., 1991, Maggiolini et al., 2010).
We asked also for “a recent episode” of the daily life.
We have looked for the TDQ’s items in both the narratives (written reports).
Which kind of content is typical of dreams?
Do the typical dreams change through the life cycle?

13. Sample (1 dream and 1 episode per subject)
Age N
% Female-%Male
8-10
200
53% F-47% M
11-12
250
50% F-50% M
15-16
17-18
19-30
31-45
120
65% F- 35% M
46-59 86
73% F- 27% M
60-70
140
55% F- 45% M
TOT
1546
53%F- 47% M
Our sample. One thousand and five hundred dreams and episodes, from children to older adults.

14. Number of TDQ items per narrative
Number of TDQ’s items per narrative
Dreams (our research)
Dreams (Mathes et al., 2014)
Dream Diaries (Mathes et al., 2014)
Episodes
44,2%
41,3%
31,5%
84,1% 1
37,9%
36,1%
37,4%
14,2% 2
13,7%
15,3%
20,2%
1,6%
3 -5
4,2%
7,25%
0,1%
The first important result is that typical dreams are very frequent in dreams. The majority of dreams has one or more typical content.
We can compare our results with those by Mathes. The percentages are very similar. Even more important is that in diary dreams these contents are more frequent! So their frequency is not due to a memory bias. We don’t remember them more than other contents because they are more unusual or strange.
If you look at the episodes you can see taht the majority of them doesn’t have a typical content.
55,8% of the dreams has one or more typical content
58,9% in dream texts (Mathes et al., 2014).
68,4% in dream diaries (Mathes et al., 2014)
15,9% of waking narratives have one or more typical content.
Typical contents are very frequent in dreams!

15. The most frequent Typical Dreams Themes (Frequency Ranks, Spearman correl. With Mathes et al ,67** sig. 2 tail. 0)
Dream (N = 1546) (%)
Dream Ranks (N = 1546)
Ranks Mathes
Age
Gender
GenderxAge
Being chased or pursued, not physic. injured (1)
9,26 1 3 *
School, teachers and studying (31)
7,83 2 5 **
Trying again and again to do something (3)
5,37
3,5
Falling (12)
11,5
Being physically attacked (2)
5,11 9
Sexual experiences (32)
4,34 6 4
A person now dead as alive (35)
3,69 7
A person now alive as dead (36)
3,11 8
Wild and violent beasts (40)
3,04
Killing someone (42)
2,52 10 27
Magical powers, not flying (20)
2,46 11
44,5
These are the most frequent dreams. The results are similar to tohe by Mathes and Schredl.

16. The less frequent dreams themes
Dream (N = 1546) (%)
Dream Ranks (N = 1546)
Ranks Mathes
Age
Gender
GenderxAge
creatures, part animal, part human (17)
0,19 48 40
lunatics or insane people (43) 38
seeing yourself in a mirror (19)
36,5
someone having an abortion (55)
52,5 *
discovering a new room at home (53)
0,13
51,5 31
encountering God in some form (52)
46,5
being an animal (49)
0,06 53
being an object (e.g., tree or rock) (26)
0,00
54,5 56
seeing a flying object crash (e.g., airplane) (54)
Many items, however, are very rare. So this questionnaire maybe needs to be changed according to these results.

17. Gender differences in TDQ (items>1%)
sign
Direct.
Being physically attacked (2)
5,11%
9,175
0,002
M>F
Killing someone (42)
2,52%
17,207
Having magical powers (20)
2,46%
9,274
Losing control of a vehicle (33)
1,42%
6,058
0,014
Vividly sensing a presence in the room (29)
1,10%
8,782
0,003
Some geneder differences. Males’ dreams are more about attack and losing control.

18. Typical themes of dreams compared with the episodes
Delta Dreams - episodes %
1. Being chased or pursued, but not physically injured
7,77
3. Trying again and again to do something
4,98
2. Being physically attacked (beaten, stabbed, raped, etc)
4,14
12. Falling
3,69
35. A person now dead as alive
3,56
36. A person now alive as dead
3,11
32. Sexual experience
2,98
40. Wild, violent beasts
2,85
42. Killing someone
2,52
20. Having magical powers
2,46
If we compare dreams and episodes we can find the contents that are really more frequent in dreams.

19. Other typical themes Some TDQ items are very rare (less than 0,20%):
Seeing an angel (51) creatures, part animal, part human (17), lunatics or insane people (43), seeing yourself in a mirror (19), someone having an abortion (55), discovering a new room at home (53), encountering God in some form (52), being an animal (49), being an object (e.g., tree or rock) (26), seeing a flying object crash (e.g., airplane) (54).
Some contents, not in the TDQ, are quite frequent:
Being or encountering a famous person, Accidents, Diseases, Competition, Travelling.
As a result we can confirm not only that some items are very rare, so not typical, but that some other contents should be considered as typical as for example:

20. Categories of typical contents
Attack: be scared, threatened by someone, man or animal (TDQ Items: 1, 2, 4, 9, 24, 27, 29, 40, 42, 43, 47). Hindrance: feel stuck, unable to do anything, do not have control (3, 8, 15, 33, 39, 44). Time: arrive too late, do not meet a deadline (6). Gravity: fly, fall, rise, fall, swim, situations involving a relationship with gravity (7, 11, 12, 37, 46, 54). Performance: do something good, be known or meeting famous people (16, 20). Loss: lose something or someone, and also find him (10, 28, 35, 36) Nudity and embarrassment: being embarrassed for some reason, e.g. toilet (13, 14, 30). Spatial disorientation: disorientation in the relationship with the environment that is unpredictably changed (21, 22, 23, 34, 48, 53). Sexuality: be in a sexual relationship or love, jealousy (25, 32). Examination: be evaluated, undergo a test or competition (31, 38)
We can groupe some contents that seem to be in some way similar, in categories. For example 1being chased, 2 being physically attacked, 4 being frozen with fright 9 snakes, 24 insects or spiders , 27 being killed, 40 wild, violent beasts, 42 killing someone, can be considered al times that describe a situation where the dreamer is scared, threatened by someone, man or animal.

21. Changes in the life cycle
Attack (19,68%) and performance (2,72%) decreases.
Hindrance (9,58%) increases.
Gravity (9,51%) decreases in adolescents and then increases with age.
Exams (7,91%) are more frequent in adolescence.
Loss (7,7%) more frequent in children and old people.
Sex (5,44%) is more frequent in young adults.
Spatial disorientation (2,98%) more frequent in the older adults.
Performance (1,68%) more frequent in children and preadolescents.
Embarrassment (1,1%): more frequent in young adults.
We can see how these themes change with age.

22. Typical contents in the life cycle. Attack (19,68%)
Attack decreases from childhood to older adults. One of the items of the categorie, being chesed, has a similar trend.
1being chased, 2 being physically attacked, 4 being frozen with fright 9 snakes, 24 insects or spiders , 27 being killed, 29 vividly sensing a presence in the room. 40 wild, violent beasts, 42 killing someone, 43 lunatics or insane people, 47 seeing extra-terrestrials

23. Typical contents in the life cycle. Hindrance (9,58%)
Here you have the trend of hindrance and of the most important item of this categorie.
3 trying again and again to do something , 8 being locked up,15 being tied, unable to move ,33 losing control of a vehicle ,39 being smothered, unable to breathe ,44 being half awake and paralyzed in bed

24. Typical contents in the life cycle. Gravity (9,51%)
Gtravity contents decrease and then increase. You can see thequite similar trend of falling, while flying is increasing with age.
7 swimming, 11 flying, 12 falling, 37 being on the verge of falling , 46 seeing a UFO, 54 seeing a flying object crash

25. Typical contents in the life cycle. Loss (7,7%)
For loss you can sse that you have an opposite trend for the two most important items.
10. finding money, 28. seeing yourself as dead, 35. a person now dead as alive 36. a person now alive as dead

26. Typical contents in the life cycle. Exam (7,91%)
School dreams are more frequent in adolescence
31 school, teachers, studying , 38 failing an examination

27. Typical contents in the life cycle
Typical contents in the life cycle. Sex (5,44%) and Embarrassment (1,10%)
25. being a member of the opposite sex 32. sexual experiences
Sex adn embarrasssment are both more frequent in young adults.
13. being inappropriately dressed, 14. being nude, 30. being unable to find, or embarrassed about using, a toilette

28. Typical contents in the life cycle. Disorientation (2,98%)
Disorientation is more frequent in adults adn older adults.
21. floods or tidal waves, 22. tornadoes or strong winds, 23. earthquakes 34. fire, 48. traveling to another planet, 53. discovering a new room at home

29. Typical contents in the life cycle. Performance (1,68%)
Performance is typical of dreams of children.
16 having superior knowledge or mental ability , 20 having magical powers

30. Typical contents in the life cycle. Time (1,10%)
Arriving too late increases with age.

31. Discussion
The decrease of attack in dreams is consistent with the results of many researches (Domhoff, Hall&Van de Castle).
The frequency of exam/school dreams in adolescence and of dreams with sex, nudity in young adults is in continuity with waking life.
The frequency of Flying in some researches decreases with age (Schredl & Piel, 2007), but in others (Mathes, Schredl, Göritz, 2014) increases, from 14 to 86 years, as much as “Trying something again and again”, “A person now dead being alive”, “Falling”.
Why hindrance increases with age?

32. A bottom up way to define typical dreams
Results of a research (Maggiolini et al., in press) on typical content, through a cluster analysis with the Tlab software (Lancia, 2004).
Sample: 1000 dreams and 1000 episodes of males (50%) and females preadolescents, adolescents and young adults (age 11-25).
Typical dreams come from the first Freud’s list, with new items proposed by many authors (top-down procedure).
Is it possible to find typical dreams with a bottom up strategy.

33. Cluster analysis of adolescents’ dreams (Maggiolini et al
Cluster analysis of adolescents’ dreams (Maggiolini et al., in press, N=1000, age 11-25, % of total variance Comparison with the % of TDQ analysis for the same age)
Competition 18,66
(TDQ Performance 2,59%, Hindrance 11,09%)
2) Gravity 11,72%
(TDQ 9,94%)
3) Fear (26.08%)
4) School 25.24%
(TDQ 7,23%)
5) Attack 18,3%
(TDQ 19,09%)
The cluster analysis found five clusters.

34. Adolescents’ typical dreams. Competition
“ A year ago, I dreamt that I was a football player, I was playing for Juventus, and I got many goals. I was very good and I even got the Golden Ball. One day, May the 26th, I was playing the Champions League final match against Milan: the match was boring and it ended nil-nil. We had to win the cup with penalty shoot outs and it was up to me to kick the last penalty” (M, 11-12).
The software extracts the most frequent words and the typical texts for every cluster. Here you have the typical dreams of the cluster competition given by the software.

35. Adolescents’ typical dreams. Gravity
“It was strange, because my cousin is much smaller than me, she is seven and I am 12, and I couldn’t pet a dolphin. My brother Luca, unintentionally fell into the water and my uncle jumped into the water immediately to save him, but the dolphin who was already in the water saved him and also saved my uncle” (F, 11-12).
More frequent in females (11-12 and 19-30)

36. Adolescents’ typical dreams. Fear (Cluster analysis)
“I panic and I try in every way to find the exit, but I find myself in front of some uncovered tombs and of cauldrons from which unknown dead people emerge with a greenish look. When I feel about to faint of fright, I wake up totally sweaty, able to remember word by word what I dreamed, as if I had really lived it” (F, 17-18).

37. Adolescents’ typical dreams. School, (Cluster analysis)
“I was at school with a classmate. We had just finished an assignment in maths and the professor of art history called us into his class to give reps in maths to some younger students, due to our good results in the tests” (F, 17-18).
More frequent in females

38. Adolescents’ typical dreams. Attack (Cluster analysis)
“I was in a street of my village and quite a big white dog was chasing me. I stumbled and this dog caught up with me, and I felt this dog was dangerous and I was scared. I was looking for help, but there were only dark houses around me and the fog prevented me from seeing if there were people around. I felt alone and almost trapped in the fog” (M, 17-18).
More frequent in males and females

39. Dreams interpretation
The second dream of Dora, the 18 year old patient of Freud (1905).
We will compare an interpretation through associations and symbolism (Freud) with an interpretation based on typical contents.
Which dream interpretation from a perspective of typical contents?

40. The second dream of Dora
Freud interpretation
Typical content
“I was walking about in a town which I did not know. I saw streets and squares which were strange to me.
Association: an album with pictures.
Symbolic interpretation a box is a woman.
Spatial disorientation
The day before the dream Dora had looked at an album, a present from a suitor, that had been put in a box for keeping pictures.
The wandering through a strange town can be traced back to the picture album.
She said to her mother: ‘Where is the box?’. According to Freud this question means “Where is the woman?”
From the perspective of typical dreams here we have spatial disorientation.

41. “Now he is dead, and if you like you can come.
Dream
Freud interpretation
Typical content
Then I came into a house where I lived, went to my room, and found a letter from Mother lying there.
She wrote saying that as I had left home without my parents’ knowledge she had not wished to write to me to say Father was ill.
“Now he is dead, and if you like you can come.
The death of the father: a fantasy of revenge directed against her father.
In the next session Dora brought to Freud an addition: ‘I saw myself particularly distinctly going up the stairs,’
Loss (A person now alive as dead).
Gravity (stairs)
The death of the father is an expression of a fantasy of revenge directed against her father.
From our perspective leaving home according to the mother implies father’s death.

42. Time, travelling (she is stuck: it’s impossible to leave the father).
Dream
Freud interpretation
Typical content
I then went to the station and asked about a hundred times: “Where is the station?” I always got the answer: “Five minutes.” I then saw a thick wood before me which I went into, and there I asked a man whom I met. He said to me: “Two and a half hours more.”
Association: Dora asked her mother: ‘I’ve asked you a hundred times already where the key is.’
Symbol: ‘Bahnhof’ (‘station’) and ‘Friedhof’ [‘cemetery’] represent the female genitals.
Time, travelling (she is stuck: it’s impossible to leave the father).
Her father had asked her to fetch him the brandy. She asked her mother for the key of the sideboard; but she was deep in conversation, and didn’t answer her, until Dora exclaimed: ‘I’ve asked you a hundred times already where the key is.’
Where is the key? is the masculine version of the question ‘Where is the box?’, both questions referring to the genitals.
‘Bahnhof’ (‘station’) and ‘Friedhof’ [‘cemetery’] represent the female genitals.

43. He offered to accompany me. But I refused and went alone
Dream
Freud interpretation
Typical content
He offered to accompany me. But I refused and went alone
Association: A cousin of hers had wanted to act as a guide in Dresden. But she declined and went alone.
I saw the station in front of me and could not reach it. At the same time, I had the unusual feeling of anxiety that one has in dreams when one cannot move forward.
Station is a symbol of sexual intercourse.
Hindrance. Being stuck.
The emphasis upon the difficulty of getting forward and the anxiety felt in the dream indicates the importance which the dreamer gave to her virginity

44. Association: if my father is dead I can read a big book on sexuality.
Dream
Freud interpretation
Typical content
Then I was at home. I must have been travelling in the meantime, but I knew nothing about that.
Traveling (change).
I walked into the porter’s lodge, and enquired for our flat. The maidservant opened the door to me and replied that Mother and the others were already at the cemetery”
Association: if my father is dead I can read a big book on sexuality.
Loss (changing causes the loss).
Travelling is not a typical content in TDQ, but is very frequent in dreams and maybe should be added as a content.
According to Freud, Dora’s father was dead, and the others had already gone to the cemetery.
She might calmly read a big book on sexuality.

45. Synthesis of the interpretation through typical contents
Dora can’t leave her father, who according to her mother, could die as a result.
She doesn’t know what to do (disorientation).
If she leaves him (travel), he could die (loss).
She can’t leave (hindrance).
Her father dies (loss).

46. Interpreters
Typical contents are fundamental components of the structure of the dream narrative. They give meaning to relationships and daily experiences.
They are prototypes (Rosch, 1978) interpreters (or interpretants, Peirce) and not symbols that need an interpretation.
They express the point of view of the subject on his daily emotional concerns.
Now some final remarks to the function of typical contents in dreams’ narrative.

47. What’s a metaphor
The comprehension of a metaphor doesn’t need a translation. A metaphor is a natural concept (Gärdenfors, 2000).
The meaning is in the manifest content.
Metaphor is not only a more concrete representation of an abstract concept (Lakoff, Johnson, 1980). It’s an attribution, an expression of the position of the subject toward the object (Glucksberg, 2003).
“Lawyers are sharks” is an affective evaluation of lawyers and expresses the position of the subject, (feeling of being threatened). Sharks are prototypes of predators.
To understand the function of typical contents we need to define their metaphorical function. In symbolism you need a translation: station as a sexual symbol, for example. In typical dreams you don’t need a translation.

48. An attributional theory of the metaphor
In a metaphor you combine two objects and the second one is used as an attribution of the first: “My surgeon is a butcher” and “My butcher is a surgeon”.
“Association” is between two contents, rather than between a dream content and a day residue.
In dreams putting together two contents is a metaphorical attribution (as montage in movies).
Typical contents are the basic affective language of the evaluation of the daily relationships for the anticipation of the future event (For Dora: “Leaving – station- means death (for my father”: Starting is a bit 'die).
Internal knowledge.

49. Conclusions
Typical contents are very frequent in dreams and the frequency of different contents changes through the life cycle.
Fear, attack, school, competition, gravity are frequent contents of adolescents’ dreams.
Typical dreams are thoughts of an affective consciousness.
Typical contents express the subject of the dream (an intention, a point of view toward something),
“The subject of the dream that is the dream itself” (Foucault, 1930).
To sum up:

50. They are like advice from a significant other, as in ancient dreams.
Dreams assess the daily previous experiences to anticipate the future (Llinas, Hobson).
They are like advice from a significant other, as in ancient dreams.
“Sleep is nothing but the retreating of the soul into its own midst”
(Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, )
Let me finish quoting Pliny the elder.