Researchers have shown that everyone dreams every night. Dreams are a succession of visual images experienced during the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep, when our brains are very active.
Some remember their dreams and others don't. Research shows the activities that we engage in after waking interfere with our ability to remember dreams.
Psychoanalytic Perspective - Sigmund Freud
Different psychological perspectives offer very different views on the meaning of dreams. Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud argued that dreams express unconscious desires and wishes. He posited that dreams could be analyzed on two levels: the manifest content and the latent content.
The manifest content refers to what happens in the dream, but Freud believed that there is a deeper meaning in the latent content of dreams. The latent content refers to the unconscious meaning of the dream, unfulfilled wishes and desires that the dreamer is not aware of. Therefore, the true underlying meaning or unconscious meaning of dreams is expressed in a symbolic form in the manifest content.
Cognitive Perspective on Dreams
Psychological theorists from a cognitive perspective offer a different view of dreams. Cognitive psychology focuses on understanding thought processes as the key to understanding human behavior. Cognitive theorists argue that dreams are a form of information processing, or mental work, in which we sort through all the information collected throughout the day. We dream about daily issues, problems, and relationships. From the cognitive perspective, dreams help us to solve problems, work with information, and think.
Biological Perspective on Dreams
Psychologists who take a biological perspective argue that dreams are physiologically driven. Dreams are a function of REM activity in the brain. During REM sleep, the brain is highly active. The brain tries to make sense of the random activity, and creates a dream. From this perspective, referred to as the activation synthesis hypothesis, dreams are the brain's way of making sense of the random activity during REM sleep.
This approach would explain why some dreams don't make sense or have a disjointed feel. This theory offers a physiological basis for dreams but does not explain why certain dreams or themes recur. If dreams are a result of random brain activity, the consistency of some themes may be difficult to explain.
Even after centuries of study, we don't have a definitive understanding of why we dream. Most psychologists combine ideas from each of these perspectives to explain dreams.
Some remember their dreams and others don't. Research shows the activities that we engage in after waking interfere with our ability to remember dreams.
Psychoanalytic Perspective - Sigmund Freud
Different psychological perspectives offer very different views on the meaning of dreams. Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud argued that dreams express unconscious desires and wishes. He posited that dreams could be analyzed on two levels: the manifest content and the latent content.
The manifest content refers to what happens in the dream, but Freud believed that there is a deeper meaning in the latent content of dreams. The latent content refers to the unconscious meaning of the dream, unfulfilled wishes and desires that the dreamer is not aware of. Therefore, the true underlying meaning or unconscious meaning of dreams is expressed in a symbolic form in the manifest content.
Cognitive Perspective on Dreams
Psychological theorists from a cognitive perspective offer a different view of dreams. Cognitive psychology focuses on understanding thought processes as the key to understanding human behavior. Cognitive theorists argue that dreams are a form of information processing, or mental work, in which we sort through all the information collected throughout the day. We dream about daily issues, problems, and relationships. From the cognitive perspective, dreams help us to solve problems, work with information, and think.
Biological Perspective on Dreams
Psychologists who take a biological perspective argue that dreams are physiologically driven. Dreams are a function of REM activity in the brain. During REM sleep, the brain is highly active. The brain tries to make sense of the random activity, and creates a dream. From this perspective, referred to as the activation synthesis hypothesis, dreams are the brain's way of making sense of the random activity during REM sleep.
This approach would explain why some dreams don't make sense or have a disjointed feel. This theory offers a physiological basis for dreams but does not explain why certain dreams or themes recur. If dreams are a result of random brain activity, the consistency of some themes may be difficult to explain.
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