Mapping dreams in a computational space: A phrase-level model for analyzing Fight/Flight and other typical situations in dream reports.

This article demonstrates that an automated system of linguistic analysis can be developed - the Oneirograph - to analyze large collections of dreams and computationally map their contents in terms of typical situations involving an interplay of characters, activities, and settings. Focusing the analysis first on the twin situations of fighting and fleeing, the results provide densely detailed empirical evidence of the underlying semantic structures of typical dreams. The results also indicate that the Oneirograph analytic system can be applied to other typical dream situations as well (e.g., flying, falling), each of which can be computationally mapped in terms of a distinctive constellation of characters, activities, and settings.

Dreams, Race, and the Black Lives Matter Movement: Results of a Survey of American Adults.

This study considers the relationship between dreaming and race in light of the public protests following the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Findings are presented from an online survey about dreams and the Black Lives Movement (BLM) gathered from 4,947 demographically diverse American adults sampled between June 15 and June 19, 2020. The results show that the people most likely to have dreams about the public protests were those who support BLM, who are highly educated, and/or who have high dream recall. The dreams themselves tended to be anxious, fearful, and nightmarish, with several recurrent themes: references to George Floyd, participating in protests, threats to one's home, concerns about the pandemic, and conversations about BLM. The findings of this study contribute to a growing research literature showing that dreams, dream recall, and dream sharing can vary significantly depending on people's racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. This study also provides new evidence that dreams have meaningful content relating directly to current events and public affairs. Practical implications for therapists and pastoral counselors are discussed.

Digital dream analysis: a revised method.

This article demonstrates the use of a digital word search method designed to provide greater accuracy, objectivity, and speed in the study of dreams. A revised template of 40 word search categories, built into the website of the Sleep and Dream Database (SDDb), is applied to four "classic" sets of dreams: The male and female "Norm" dreams of Hall and Van de Castle (1966), the "Engine Man" dreams discussed by Hobson (1988), and the "Barb Sanders Baseline 250" dreams examined by Domhoff (2003). A word search analysis of these original dream reports shows that a digital approach can accurately identify many of the same distinctive patterns of content found by previous investigators using much more laborious and time-consuming methods. The results of this study emphasize the compatibility of word search technologies with traditional approaches to dream content analysis.

The Dream of God: How Do Religion and Science See Lucid Dreaming and Other Conscious States During Sleep?

Lucid dreaming (LD) began to be scientifically studied in the last century, but various religions have highlighted the importance of LD in their doctrines for a much longer period. Hindus' manuscripts dating back over 2,000 years ago, for example, divide consciousness in waking, dreaming (including LD), and deep sleep. In the Buddhist tradition, Tibetan monks have been practicing the "Dream Yoga," a meditation technique that instructs dreamers to recognize the dream, overcome all fears when lucid, and control the oneiric content. In the Islamic sacred scriptures, LD is regarded as a mental state of great value, and a special way for the initiated to reach mystical experiences. The Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) mentions LD as a kind of preview of the afterlife, when the soul separates from the body. In the nineteenth century, some branches of the Spiritism religion argue that LD precedes out-of-body experiences during sleep. Here we reviewed how these religions interpret dreams, LD and other conscious states during sleep. We observed that while Abrahamic monotheisms (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) recognize dreams as a way to communicate with God to understand the present and predict the future, the traditional Indian religions (Buddhism and Hinduism) are more engaged in cultivating self-awareness, thus developed specific techniques to induce LD and witnessing sleep. Teachings from religious traditions around the world offer important insights for scientific researchers today who want to understand the full range of LD phenomenology as it has emerged through history.

Seeking patterns in dream content: a systematic approach to word searches.

This paper systematizes the word search potential of DreamBank.net (Domhoff & Schneider, 2008a, 2008b) by formulating and testing a set of word strings that can be used as default analytic categories in future investigations. The word strings are applied to the 981 dream reports of college students gathered by Hall and Van de Castle (1966) and the 136 dream reports of an 80-year old male gathered by Bulkeley (2008a). The results show a basic compatibility with the frequencies identified by Hall and Van de Castle's labor-intensive method of content analysis employing teams of human coders. These findings support the expanded use of word search technologies for the scientific study of dream content and its relation to forms of waking consciousness.

The impact of September 11 on dreaming.

This study focuses on a set of dreams related to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and their aftermath, using content analysis and cognitive psychology to explore the interweaving of external public catastrophe and internal psychological processes. The study tests several recent claims in contemporary dream research, including the central image theory of Hartmann [Hartmann, E., & Basile, R. (2003). Dream imagery becomes more intense after 9/11/01. Dreaming, 13(2), 61-66; Hartmann, E., & Brezler, T. (2008). A systematic change in dreams after 9/11/01. Sleep, 31(2), 213-218], the media exposure factor postulated by Propper [Propper, R. E., Stickgold, R., Keeley, R., & Christman, S. D. (2007). Is television traumatic? Dreams, stress, and media exposure in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Psychological Science, 18(4), 334-340], the continuity hypothesis of Domhoff [Domhoff, W. G. (1996). Finding meaning in dreams: A quantitative approach. New York: Plenum], the cognitive and metacognitive approach of Kahan [Kahan, T. L. (2001). Consciousness in dreaming: A metacognitive approach. In K. Bulkeley (Ed.), Dreams: A reader on the religious, cultural, and psychological dimensions of dreaming (pp. 333-360). New York: Palgrave], and the threat simulation theory of Revonsuo [Revonsuo, A. (2000). The reinterpretation of dreams: An evolutionary hypothesis of the function of dreaming. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23(6), 877-901]. Our findings suggest the terrorist attacks had a tangible impact on the content of many people's dreams, but did not fundamentally alter the cognitive processing features of their dreaming. The 9/11 attacks affected what they dreamed about, but not the way they dreamed.

The future of dream science.

This article describes the future prospects of scientific dream research. Three frontiers of investigation hold special promise: neuroscientific studies of the brain-mind system's activities during sleep (such as during lucid dreaming); systematic analyses of large collections of dream reports from diverse populations of people; and psychotherapeutic explorations of the multiple dimensions of personal and collective meaning woven into the dream experiences of each individual. Several helpful books on the science of sleep and dreaming are mentioned for further study.

Dreaming: a gateway to the unconscious?

Where do our dreams originate from, and what do they tell us? Is there a universal set of symbols that are common to all dreams, regardless of a person's ethnicity or culture? What does dreaming reveal about the unconscious? Why do some dreams remain etched in our memories, whereas others are almost instantly forgotten? Some scientists have adopted the position that dreams are little more than noise in the brain, without any substantive purpose or function. Yet, such a stance seemingly runs counter to the experience of many people who reflect upon and even analyze their dreams, often in search of clues to their daily lives or insights into their deeper selves. Similarly, in virtually all wisdom traditions, dreams are invoked as an important source of revelation or prophecy. Steve Paulson, executive producer and host of To the Best of Our Knowledge, moderated a discussion that included psychologist Deirdre Barrett, dream researcher Kelly Bulkeley, and psychologist and sleep/dream medicine specialist Rubin Naiman; they examined dreams from a variety of perspectives to answer these questions.

Dreams as a source of supernatural agent concepts.

We present a theory of the creativity of dreams as well as psychopathology of religious delusions with respect to production of fundamental forms of religious cognition-specifically supernatural agent (SA) cognitions. We suggest that dream cognitions are particularly efficient at producing highly memorable and impactful experiences with SAs because dreams involve three processes that are prerequisites for the generation of god concepts: (1) mental simulations of alternative realities, (2) theory of mind attributions to the extra-natural dream characters and divine beings, and (3) attribution of ultimate value (exemplified by 'good spirit beings'), and dis-value (exemplified by demonic monsters) to the supernatural dream characters. Because prefrontal cortex is deactivated during rapid eye movements (REM) sleep agentic impulses and internally generated ideas are not reliably attributed to Self or dreamer. Instead an exaggerated degree of agency is attributed to these supernatural dream characters who are then embedded in stories in dreams and in myths of waking life which explain their supernatural abilities. These dream-based SAs are salient characters that are processed in sleep-related memory systems according to rules of Lleweelyn's ancient art of memory model and therefore more easily remembered and reflected upon during waking life. When REM sleep intrudes into waking consciousness, as is the case with some forms of schizophrenia, religious delusions are more likely to emerge.

Dreaming as inspiration evidence from religion, philosophy, literature, and film.

This paper presents evidence from the history of religion, philosophy, literature, and film to suggest that dreaming is a primal wellspring of creative inspiration. Powerful, reality-bending dreams have motivated the cultural creativity of people all over the world and throughout history. Examples include the dream revelations of Egyptian Pharaohs, the philosophical insights of Socrates, the dark literary themes of Fyodor Dostoevsky, and the cinematic artistry of Akira Kurusawa. Although the conclusions that can be drawn from these sources are limited by several methodological factors, the evidence gives contemporary researchers good reasons to explore the creative potentials of dreaming and the impact on waking life behavior of certain types of extraordinary dream experience.