Hey, Stephen, can I at least say that "bizarre dreams aren't unusual"? I swear, if I have to hear one more "listen to this dream," I'll remove the dream topic from my syllabus. Just kidding. (Sort of.) Beth Benoit Granite State College Plymouth State University New Hampshire
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2007 10:14 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] possible activity for sleep and consciousness On 23 Aug 2007 at 10:44, Beth Benoit wrote: > > Here's an example of the kind of dream story I've made up, reminding > them that dreams are always bizarre While acknowledging Beth's imagination in constructing her own example of a bizarre dream, I have to take issue with her claim that dreams are always bizarre. I have to because I love contradicting what everyone knows is true. At least one authority who has studied dreaming scientifically claims that dreams are frequently far less bizarre than is generally believed. The authority is William Domhoff, the author of "The scientific study of dreams" (2003). [website at http://dreamresearch.net/]. Michael Hagmann, in a journalistic account of his research, says this about Domhoff's view: "When psychologist Bill Domhoff thinks of dreams, he sees them as short tales or theater plays with coherent story lines, no more bizarre or obscure than our routine waking thoughts." http://scicom.ucsc.edu/scinotes/9801/dream/complete_text.htm Domhoff (2005-06) himself says: "Second, content analyses of dreams collected in both sleep laboratories and college classrooms over the past 55 years suggest that most dreams are more coherent, reasonable, and focused on everyday life than traditional cultural stereotypes--and clinical theorists--assume (Domhoff, 2005a, for a summary; Dorus, Dorus, & Rechtschaffen, 1971; Snyder, 1970). True, dreams sometimes contain unusual scenarios or images, but far less often than might be expected. Moreover, the unusual scenarios have to be seen within a context of predominantly familiar settings, a cast of mostly known characters, and an enactment of everyday activities and interests. As the most prolific and creative laboratory dream researcher of the 20th century, psychologist David Foulkes (1985), concluded after several decades of work, dreams are a reasonable simulation of the waking world." This challenge to conventional wisdom suggests a possible activity for students. Let them keep dream diaries to collect all their dreams non- selectively, then circulate them to the class for rating on degree of bizarreness. How bizarre is the typical dream, anyway? Stephen Domhoff, G. W. (2005-2006). Dream research in the mass media: Where journalists go wrong on dreams. The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 4(2), 74-78. http://www.dreamresearch.net/Library/domhoff_2006a.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 0C8 Canada Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=engl ish --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
