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I CAN:
Distinguish the Dream Theories
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Dreams and Dreaming
Women dream about children, men about aggression
Men dream about other men more than women dream about men
Usually the first dream of the night connects to events of the day…
and other dreams build on this
The last dream is the one most often remembered, but also the one with the least connection to the previous day’s events
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3. Why We Dream Common Theories
Freud's theory is that dreams carry our hidden desires
Jung's theory is that dreams carry meaning, although not always of desire, and that these dreams can be interpreted by the dreamer.
Cayce’s theory is that dreams are our bodies means of building up of the mental, spiritual and physical well-being.
Evans states that dreaming is our bodies way of storing the vast array of information gained during the day
Crick and Mitchinson say that this information is being dumped rather than stored.
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4. Dreams as Meaningful Events
Freud believed dreams served the following two functions:
To guard sleep
To serve as a source of wish fulfillment
Dreams reflect a person’s unrecognized fears and desires.
Dreams relieve psychic tensions created during the day.
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Freud and Dreams
Manifest Content
A dream’s story line
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The supposed symbolic meaning of the dream
Freudian psychologists would focus on this aspect
Example: Long, rigid objects and containers are symbolic of male and female genitalia
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The Problem With Freud
Freud did not do careful, scientific studies to verify his theoretical suspicions.
For example…do boys dream about their fathers out of jealousy, as Freud believed, or simply because they are their closest authority figure
“…Every dream will reveal itself as a psychological structure, full of significance, and one which may be assigned to a specific place in the psychic activities of the waking state.” The Interpretation of Dreams
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7. Activation-Synthesis Theory
The theory that dreams are simply random electrical activation coming from brain stem
Dreams are brain’s attempt to make sense of this random activity
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8. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007
CAN I?
Distinguish the Dream Theories
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007