1. Dreams, Hypnosis & Meditation
A.P. Psychology 01/06/09

2. Drill
Look at your sleep diary. Do you notice any patterns in your sleeping? Is there something in particular that you dream about? Summarize your sleep experience and what you learned from keeping this diary.

3. Dreaming What exactly is a dream? Are they really that bizarre?
mental experiences during REM sleep that have a story-like quality, include visual imagery, are often bizarre, and are regarded as perceptually real by the dreamer.
Are they really that bizarre?
Is it possible that dreams are really ways to unconsciously work through our everyday problems?

4. Dreaming Recent research has shown
that dreams DO NOT happen during REM Sleep only
Non-REM dreams are less vivid, visual, and story-like than REM dreams
Dreamers actually realize they are dreaming more than previously thought
Very similar to waking thoughts
Dreaming is constantly being researched

5. Content of Dreams Common Themes
Falling
Being attacked
Trying repeatedly to do something
School, teachers, studying
Sexual experiences
Arriving Late
Eating
Being frozen with fright
Death of a loved one
People are more likely to remember bizarre dreams, but overall, most are not that exciting

6. Content of Dreams Calvin Hall (1966)
Concluded that most dreams are mundane and deal with family, friends, and colleagues
Dreams tend to center on classic sources of internal conflict
People dream very little about public affairs & current events
We dream mostly about ourselves

7. Theories of Dreaming 1. Sigmund Freud ~ Wish Fulfillment
People fulfill ungratified needs from waking hours with wishful thinking in dreams
Ex. Someone who is sexually frustrated might have highly erotic dreams
Ex. An unsuccessful person might dream about greater accomplishments
Also believed that the true meaning of dreams might be disguised

8. Theories of Dreaming
2. Rosalind Cartwright ~ Cognitive Problem Solving View
There is considerable continuity between waking and sleeping thought
Dreams allow people to engage in creative thinking about problems because they are not restrained by logic or realism

9. Theories of Dreaming
3. J. Allen Hobson & Robert McCarley ~ Bursts in Brain activity
Activation Synthesis Model
Dreams are side-effects of the neural activation that produces “wide awake” brain waves during REM sleep
The cortex synthesizes a dream to make sense out of these signals
DOES NOT say that dreams are meaningless, but it does downplay the role of emotional factors

10. Content of Dreams Differences between Men & Women
Strangers appear more in men’s dreams
Acting out aggressively
Having sexual liaisons with attractive female strangers
Women
Children
Being the target of aggression
Having sexual encounters with their boyfriends & husbands

11. Lucid Dreams
A lucid dream is a dream in which the sleeper is aware that he or she is dreaming. When the dreamer is lucid, he or she can actively participate in and often manipulate the imaginary experiences in the dream environment.
Lucid dreams can seem extremely real and vivid depending on a person's level of self-awareness during the lucid dream.

12. Hypnosis
A systematic procedure that typically produces a heightened state of suggestibility
Franz Mesmer (18th Century)
Believed he could cure people of their illnesses through “mesmerism”
James Braid (1843)
Popularized the term hypnotism & thought that this “trance-like” state coulse serve as a general anesthetic ~ when medicine came around, it died out

13. Hypnotic Induction & Susceptibility
Techniques for inducing hypnosis
Swinging pendulum
Suggestion of relaxation
Repetition
Speaking softly
Vivid description of body sensations
Hypnotic Susceptibility
Not everyone can be hypnotized
Stable, measurable trait measured by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale
About 10% of the population does not respond at all
About 10% are exceptional subjects

14. SHSS
a series of exercises performed with an experienced hypnotist who assesses your suggestibility to certain tasks while in state of hypnosis. There are 12 tasks ranging from pulling apart your interlocked fingers to hallucinating the presence of a buzzing fly. Item number 12 tests your susceptibility to post-hypnotic amnesia. The hypnotist would ask you to forget what has just happened during the session. The test is scored as follows: 0-4 is considered low hypnotizable. 5-7 is medium 8-12 is high

15. Hypnotic Phenomenon Effects produced through hypnosis Disinhibition
Anesthesia
Some physicians & dentists have used hypnosis as a substitute for drugs
Sensory distortions & Hallucinations
Subjects may see or hear things that are not there or even have their sensations distorted (sweet tastes sour, etc.)
Disinhibition
Hypnosis can sometimes lower inhibitions and cause subjects to act in ways that are not socially desireable
Post-hypnotic suggestions & amnesia
Suggestions made during hypnosis may influence later behavior

16. Theories of Hypnosis 1. Hypnotic Trance
Special altered state where there are no special physiological changes & may just be “normal”

17. Theories on Hypnosis 2. Role-Playing
Theodore Barber (1979) & Nicholas Spanos (1986)
Subjects’ role expectations produce effects, rather than an altered state of consciousness
Many amazing effects of hypnosis have been duplicated by nonhypnotized participants
Martin Orne (1951) took hypnotized subjects back to their 6th birthday & found that many memories were inaccurate or invented ~ subjects seem to be playing a role

18. Theories on Hypnosis 3. Altered State of Consciousness
Theorists doubt that all effects can be explained by the role-playing theory
Even the most cooperative subjects are unlikely to endure surgery without anesthetic, just to please the doctor
If it was all an act, why do subjects continue to “play a role” even when alone
Brain-Imaging Studies
Changes in brain activity while hypnotized

19. Dissociation Ernest Hilgard (1986)
Theorized that hypnosis splits consciousness into two streams – one in communication with hypnotist & external world, and the other is difficult to detect
Divided consciousness seems to be rather common
Ex. Highway Hypnosis – many people drive a car for miles, responding to traffic signals and other cars without any recollection of having consciously done so

20. Meditation
A family of practices that train attention to heighten awareness and bring mental processes under greater voluntary control

21. Approaches to Meditation
Yoga
a system of exercises practiced as part of the Hindu discipline to promote control of the body and mind
Zen
Zen emphasizes experiential wisdom in the attainment of enlightenment. As such, it de-emphasizes theoretical knowledge in favor of direct, experiential realization through meditation and religious practice.
Transcendental Meditation
A form of meditation that originated in the cultures of India and Tibet. It was exported to the West by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It involves training the mind on a single point of focus, such as a word or phrase (Mantra)

22. Religion & Meditation Meditation is rooted in Eastern Religions
Hinduism
Buddhism
Taoism
Meditation has been practiced throughout history in spiritual traditions, even in Judaism & Christianity

23. Physiology of Meditation
Alpha & Theta waves become more prominent
Heart rate, skin conductance, respiration rate, oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide elimination decline
High activity in the prefrontal cortex
Consistent with focused attention
Unusually low activity in the parietal lobe
Processes body’s location in space
Experienced meditators report their “oneness” with the world

24. Long-Term Benefits Effective in reducing stress
Can improve mental health
Positive effects on blood pressure, mood and one’s sense of control
Possible increase in creativity & intelligence