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Do dreams have meaning? An empirical inquiry.
The American Journal of Psychiatry
|July 1, 1976
Summary
This study found that judges could successfully sort dreams from normal students and schizophrenic patients, indicating dreams are orderly and reflect daily life changes. Further research is needed on the order of dreams within a single night.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Depth psychology posits dreams are orderly and nonrandom.
- Understanding dream structure is crucial for psychological insight.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the inherent orderliness of dreams.
- To determine if dreams reflect an individual's daily life experiences.
Main Methods:
- Three judges sorted dreams from college students and schizophrenic patients.
- Sorting criteria included dreamer, night of occurrence, and sequential order within a night.
Main Results:
- Judges successfully sorted dreams at statistically significant levels for most tasks.
- Sorting success varied between the normal and schizophrenic groups.
- The third sorting task (sequential order within a night) was not successful.
Conclusions:
- Dreams are confirmed as orderly, nonrandom events.
- Dream content appears to mirror day-to-day life changes.
- Further investigation is required to ascertain the order among dreams within a single night.