*79t94tdatf, ^ece^nSen^ 11, f995 •d^
fy
Dreams: Our mental filing cabinets
By Mary Kathryn Ross
Reporter
People oftai ask, “ Whae do
dreams come fix)m and what
dotheymean?’ Believeitor
not, dreams rqjresaitlhe
sorting out of our
( 5 ) memory
V
\
Dreams are a pas
sage of communica'
tion betwween the
conscious and the
subconscious.
developed by Dr. Nathaniel Kleitman in
the early 1950’s. Hebeheved that dreams
might guard a sleeperfiomawakaiing The
theory was that dreams safeguarded sleq)
in two distinct ways. One was to incorporate
oirtside stimuh, thuspneventingthe stimuhfiom
arousingthesleqrer. For instance, a sleqrermi^
fi^toffbeingawakaredbyaringingtelqrhQne
by dreaming he is calling someone. The actual
ringing of the telqrhone and the ringing of the
unanswo-ed phone call in his dream, is an en
tirely satisfactory ejqrlanationto the dreamer’s
unconscious mind. He does not have to wake
up and answer the telqrhone call because his
mind has absorbed the disturbance, therefore,
safeguarding the sleqring process.
The second way Kleitman theorized that
dreams safeguarded sleqj was based on the
observation that the dreamer makes a subcon-
sdorrsefforttoprolonghisdream. Thedesireto
extend the enjoyment of a dream had the effect
of pos^oning awakening. Ni^tmares obvi-
oirsly do not fit into this theory brrt is remains
unproven, but so far it hasneverbeen digrrovea
Modem dream theories are focused mote on
©paimentaldataformulated from inaeased tech
nology in the field of dream research, hr the
1950’sDr. Calvin S. Hall, Jr. atthattime aprofes-
sor at WestemReserve Unrversity in Cleveland
tabulated 10,000 dreams reported by “normal”
people to varioirsresearchos. Hisreseardifound
thatwomen dream more than men, peoplewith
hi^ intellectual levels have more dreams, color
dreams were more commonto womenthanmen,
and to yormg people than old people, and the
most common emotion ejqrerienced in dreams
was hostility.
After becoming director of the Institute of
files and aretherec^itulationof oirr day.
Tlro'e are three theories on dreams that have
become widely accepted and used. The Freud
ian theory, which is commonly called the psy
choanalytic theory, is based on dream analysis.
Hebelieved that ifyourememberyorrr dream, it
was a failure of the dream
state.
A second theory that has
diiectly descended for the
Freudian, is the Gestalt
theory. Fritz Peris the cre
ator of this theory, believed
that each part of the dream
represents a part of the
dreamer. Ursula Harper, a
jrmior, said, “ I would have
to classhy my dreams rmder the Gestalt th eory
because often when I dream I find the sensible,
yet sensitive parts of my personality shining
through Many of my dreams also lookinto rtty
future and go so far as to marriage and a wonder
ful career as a doctor. In this sense I seem to be
using the side of my personality which func
tions only to plan for the future. ”
In analyzing dreams throu^ this ^roach,
thether^istwoirldadcyouto become each sym
bol. Every part ofthe dream (the author of the
dream, the theme of the dream,) is a part of the
dreamer. JaneRosai-Grandon,MA.,ahcensed
Marital and Family Therapist said, “ You can
learn a lot about yorrrself through sirrply look
ing at the different parts of the dream, giving
them a voice, allowing them to express them-
Dream Research at Miami, Dr. Hall and his asso
ciates made additional studies. One involved
500 males andfemales, aU college studaits. But,
inrecotding dreams sdaitificalfy,accuracy isveiy
important. We have a tendency to want to sort
out dream“stoty lines” in orderto make sarse of
ourdteams. It
can be con
fusing when
atonemoment
you may be
talkingtoyour
fiiendinyour
dreams, and
thefiiendmay
suddenly turn
irrtoastranga.
hiordertoedit
our dreams, it
Women tend to
dream more often indoors
and in familiar settings
while men dream in more
outdoor settings.
is not rmcommon to “finish” a dream to have a
satisfactory ending. Because of this tendency.
Dr. Hall had subjects report their dreams directly
to their researchers or associates.
The mo St interesting finding of this study was
that womai andmendreamaborrt entirely diffa--
ent things. Women tend to dream more often
indoors and in familiar surrormdings while men
dream in more oirtdoor settings. Women’s
dreams were not as aggressive and had more
charactosthatwereknowa Mendreamedaboirt
a lot more physical action and the characters
were idoitified more by their occupations.
A more recent dream theory has been ad
vanced by e>q)erhnental psychologist Christo-
pho-EvansinEngland. Hebelieves that dreams
may serve thefimetion of “rqrrogramming” the
mind as corrputets.periodically have to be re
programmed. Hethinksdrearnsrepresentakind
of passing-in-review of the data absorbed
selves.”
The Jrmgian view of dreams is best described
as a symbolic approach Jungbelievedthatyoirr
dreams are a corrpilation of symbols and in ana-
lyzingthemyoushoirldanalyzeeachsymbol. “
I figure I am a symbolic dreamer. lamafirm
believer in fete andthatyour
dreams are an insight into
what is yet to come,” says
LibbiDixon, ajunior.
The theory that your un-
conscioirs mind is a type of
filing cabinet that sorts
through each event of your
day, is one that Rosen-
Grandon developed. She
beheves that there is onefile
for each day and as we dream, the mind is decid
ing whichitems of orrr day to remember and to
which willfede in orrrdiort-termmemory. Fabiana
Rievers, ajunior, thinks that dreams are inpor-
tant “SometimesIdon’tremembCTmy dreams,
but whai I do, I always find that what I dreamt
that night is usually something significant that
happenedtome. Someoneoncetoldmethatthe
dreams you have are irsually aborrt someone
that has touched your life.”
Dreams are aphenomenon that may neverbe
fully understood. However, we do know that
you can leam a lot aborrt and events in yortr life
throu^ what goes on in yorrr subconsciorrs for
dreams are an essential passage of communica
tion between the corrscious and the subcon
sciorrs.
throughout aperson’s day. Evans suggests that
computers whose programs are not regularly
modifredperformless and less efficiently. Hu
mans deprived of sleep srrfFer equal loss in per
formance ability.
Recendy, provocative ejqrerimartsrdatingESP
(extrasensory perception) and
dreamshaveincieased. Ewmany
years, reseanheis at Duke Univer
sity have studied this phenom
enon by rising tables of probabil
ity, they are able to rate subj ects’
actual performances and have
beeninsistingthatthepeieentage
of “hits” as ojposed to “misses”
inthese e>periments radicatesthat
ESPisnotmeielyasipeistitutioa
But, the numbers have not hem
startling enou^to convince the
majority of psychologists.
Yet, otherresearchers have claimed to find a
significant link between dreams and the ability
to predict the future or read people’s minds. An
experiment conducted at the Dream Laboratory
at Marmonides Hospital involved a subject who
rqrorted dreaming of, “being on a boardwalk or
beach...the seacoast. If makes me think of Van
Go^” The subject had an agent studying a
pictureby Van Gogh called “Boats on aBeach”
whowasinanotherroomwhileheslcpt There
have been other reported inddmts of thought
transfo'ence in laboratory situations.
Many theories suggest the meaning and ori
gin of dreams. Whetherstudiedsciaitificallyor
rehgiously, they are apart of our lives. Maybe
they do ten a story, oraretheyamessagehiddai
in our subconscious mind.
What are
students’
strangest
dreams?
* I am sitting in a
chair at my house and
trolls are all around
me. They are threat
ening me with knives.
I can not go tell my
parents because then
they will stab me.
-Dani Gray
* I had a dream that I
was really little and I
had this giant doll that
came to life and
ehased me.
-Justin Roberts
* I had dream that a
giant cockroaeh was
sitting on my bed,
watehingT.V.
-Dana Fields
* Some man ties me
to a ehair and forces
me to watch my fam
ily being killed.
-Lisa Gonzalez
* I was sleeping and
couldn't get up. My
alarm kept ringing.
-Mamadou Niang