1. Dreams

2. States of Consciousness
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Describe various states of consciousness and their impact on behavior.
• Discuss aspects of sleep and dreaming:
— stages and characteristics of the sleep cycle;
— theories of sleep and dreaming;
— symptoms and treatments of sleep disorders.
• Describe historic and contemporary uses of hypnosis (e.g., pain control,
psychotherapy).
• Explain hypnotic phenomena (e.g., suggestibility, dissociation).
• Identify the major psychoactive drug categories (e.g., depressants, stimulants)
and classify specific drugs, including their psychological and physiological
effects.
• Discuss drug dependence, addiction, tolerance, and withdrawal.
• Identify the major figures in consciousness research (e.g., William James,
Sigmund Freud, Ernest Hilgard).

3. Contents of Dreams
Dreams aren’t normally that exciting and are generally mundane
They tend to be filled with familiar characters, dominated by friends, and colleagues and places
This is probably why dreams seem more exotic and we remember the weird ones!

4. Some dreams are more common than others
People often dream of sex, aggression, and misfortune
Center around classic sources of internal conflict
Dreams are self-centered (much like we are)

6. Gender Differences Women More likely to dream of children
More likely to dream about being the target of aggression
More likely to dream about sex with boyfriends and their husbands
Men
More likely to dream about acting aggressively
More likely to dream about strangers
More likely to dream about liaisons with attractive female strangers

7. Links Between Dreams and Waking Life

8. What people dream about is affected by what is going on in their lives
Themes in your life may show up in your dreams
“Day residue”
Trauma- nightmares
Tetris- falling blocks
Hunter-gatherers-animals

9. We also may pick up on things from the environment
Smell, sound, etc
*anything that that happens during the 5 minutes before we fall asleep is typically lost from memory

10. The content of dreams can also be affected by stimuli experienced while asleep

11. Culture and Dreams-Western Culture
In Western society, we understand the distinction between the “real” world and the “imaginary” world
Dreams are largely written off as being insignificant, meaningless meanderings of the unconscious

12. To satisfy our own wishes
“Wish Fulfillment Theory”
Discharge otherwise unacceptable feelings
Manifest content: remembered story line of a dream
Latent content- underlying meaning of a dream

13. Dreams understand our inner conflicts- according to Freud
Today- no thanks, Dr. Freud
No scientific support, many interpretations

14. To File Away Memories Information-processing perspective
Dreams sift, sort, and fix the things that are in our memory from the day
Confirmed link between REM sleep and memory
Learning areas also buzz during REM
**important for students
How can we dream about things we haven’t experienced?

15. To develop and preserve neural pathways
Dreams provide the sleeping brain with periodic stimulation
Stimulation expands neural pathways
Doesn’t explain why we have meaningful dreams

16. To make sense of static Neural Activation Theory
Brain’s attempt to make sense of the random neural activity
Internal stimuli activate brain areas that deal with images, but not the visual cortex which deals with raw input
Frontal lobes less active-act less inhibited?
Limbic System- emotions! Dreams 
Individual’s brain is telling stories, which tells us something about the dreamer

17. To reflect cognitive development
Brain maturation process (knowledge and understanding)
Engage a variety of neural networks
Doesn’t address the neuroscience of the dreams

18.
Take the Sleep Test!