The Psychological Theories of the Function of Dreaming Freud argues that dreams are 'the royal road to the unconscious', that they reveal the wishes and desires of the unconscious mind and attempt to fulfil them. However, the true nature of these desires cannot be presented within dreams because they may be unacceptable to the conscious mind, causing great anxiety. The true nature of our unconscious desires, known as the latent content of dreams, is disguised and substituted by the manifest content, our experience of the dream. Freud identified the latent content of the manifestation of many objects in dreams, including the following objects: Latent Content Manifest Content Desire for sexual intercourse Flying Climbing stairs Crossing a bridge Travelling through a tunnel Breasts Apples Peaches Grapefruits Male sexual organs Bullets Knives Fire Snakes Sticks Umbrellas Female sexual organs Ovens Boxes Tunnels Caves Bottles Ships Freud believed that the function of dreaming was to act as a release for our unconscious desires so that the energy invested in them would not build up to a level which could be a danger to our sanity. One criticism of the Freudian theory of the function of dreaming is based on research findings indicating that the immediate environment of the sleeper can effect the content of their dreams. Dement and Wolpert (1958) sprayed some of their sleeping volunteers with water and found that those who were sprayed where much more likely to report water related content in their dreams than those who were not, a phenomen... ... middle of paper ... ...internal source of activation at a time when external stimulation is reduced. There is little psychological evidence to prove or disprove this theory, but the suggestion of a biological function of dreaming is an interesting contrast to the other ideas presented by psychologists. All of these theories relating to the functions of dreaming are supported by some psychologists and research studies. However, Webb and Cartwright (1978) point out that none of them have been adequately tested because of the subjective experience of dreaming and the difficulties this presents when testing theories about sleep and dreaming. Some psychologists believe that dreaming may have a number of different combined functions, others that it may serve no purpose at all. The function of dreaming, much like a dream itself, is uncertain.
My ideas resemble a mixture of Rosalind Cartwright and Sigmund Freud’s theories on dreams. Freud believed that the purpose of our dreams is to attain a
Cartwright, R.D. (1978) A primer on Sleep and Dreaming. Massachusetts : Addison - Wesley, Publishing, Company
It is universally known that dreams are full of meanings and emotions. In Freud’s theory, all dreams are wish fulfillments or at least attempts at wish fulfillment. The dreams are usually presented in an unrecognizable form because the wishes are repressed. Freud proposes there are two levels in the structure of dreams, the manifest contents and the latent dream-thoughts. The manifest dream, a dream with understandable contents, is a substitute-formation that hides latent dream-thoughts, which are the abstract ideas in dreams. This translation of latent dream-thoughts to the manifest dream-content is defined by Freud as “dream-work”. Dream-work consists of certain types of transformation.
Exploringn a Neurobiological Theory of Dreaming Neurobiological theory of dreaming focuses on the brain and the nervous system. The activation synthesis theory which is one of the theories put forward by Hobson and Mcarley (1998) said sleep is controlled by mechanism in the brainstem. When activated this inhibits activity in the skeletal muscles and increases activity in the forebrain. This theory seems dreaming as an automatic part of the sleep process that may have no significance beyond the need to organize the material into coherent forms. Hobson points out that injection of a drug that increases the action of acetylcholine both increases REM sleep and dreaming.
During prescientific days, dreams were interpreted as ‘manifestations’ of a ‘higher power’. Since the introduction of psychology, dreams have had 4 distinct interpretations. The first interprets dreams as a “liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature”. The second interprets dreams as “accidental disturbances from ‘internal organs’. The third interprets dreams as a foretelling of the future. The last interpretation is Freud’s. He interprets dream as an expression of subconscious desires.
Along with tradition, there are also many theories about dreams. Sigmund Freud, the first psychologist to study dreams in-depth, hypothesized that dreams were just subconscious thoughts. He believed that dreams show wants and thoughts in symbolic form that aren’t acceptable on a conscious level. He used the term manifest content to describe the contents of dreams, and the term latent content as the concealed meanings behind symbolic dreams.
During Freud’s time, society typically viewed dreams as an intervention of a higher being or entity (Freud, 1900, p.4). However, Freud made the claim that dreams are the product of the dreamer and also that it serves two purposes. First, dreams form to keep a person asleep at night by blocking out external stimuli, much in the same way a person consciously does when turning off the light and minimizing noise before going to bed (“Freud’s Approach,” 2000). Next, Freud (1900) viewed humans as having grotesque sexual urges that “are suppressed before they are perceived” (p.37) in order to protect the person and allow him or her to get along in society; however, dreams serve the purpose of releasing these repressed desires as wishes which are disguised in the dream. Because a person cannot readily be aware of the unconscious wish, the dream is divided into two ...
Dreams have been thought to contain significant messages throughout many cultures. A dream is an unfolding sequence of perceptions, thoughts, and emotions that is experienced as a series of real-life events during sleep. The definitions of dreams are different among studies, which can also lead to quite different results. Perhaps, the dream interpretation has becoming increasingly popular. In this paper, I will talk about what I have learned about three different views of dream interpretations. One theory made by Sigmund Freud who believed that dreams are triggered by unacceptable repressed wishes, often of a sexual nature. He argued that because dreams we experience are merely disguised versions of people real dreams. The other theory called activation–synthesis theory, made by Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley, based on the observation that during REM sleep, many brain-stem circuits become active and bombard the cerebral cortex with neural signals. The last theory, proposed by William Domhoff, is called the neurocognitive theory of dreaming, which demonstrates that dream content in general is continuous with waking conceptions and emotional preoccupations. Thus, dreaming is best understood as a developmental cognitive achievement that depends upon the maintenance of a specific network of forebrain structures. While each theory has different belief system and approach method, it is a great opportunity to know how former psychologists contributed to the field of dream interpretation.
Freud uses an objective perspective as he explains the validity of his belief that all dreams are significant and has a specific place in an individual's psychic activities. Through the use of his interpretation technique the meaning of dreams can be disclosed. The significance of each dream may be studied. Freud states that every dream is consequential and that the meanings of these dreams will be brought to light, lending information into the understanding of an individual's make up. Freud's work with free association has helped him to make a link between the symbols of the wake mind and the subconscious mind to give credence to his belief of successful dream interpretation.
Porter, Laurence M. The Interpretation of Dreams: Freud's Theories Revisited. Boston, Mass.: Twayne, 1987. Print.
In this Forum on Sleep and Dreams, we will see how the diversity of academic disciplines can help to answer important questions about sleep and dreaming—questions that may touch the basis of human intellect. The Forum is fortunate in...
Although the notion of a human unconscious preceded Freud, his work is certainly most useful for explaining what it actually is. With an understanding of a human unconscious we can apply some of its characteristics to the literature studied thus far. Much of Freud's work on the unconscious is contained within his book The Interpretation of Dreams' but a concise definition is hard to come by. Essentially Freud believes that the unconscious is the part of the mind that is beyond consciousness which nevertheless has a strong influence on our actions' . Dreams are, for Freud, a very important tool in studying the unconscious; he believes that they are one of the very few times when repressed' material can move from the unconscious into the conscious mind. However, these thoughts have been repressed for a reason and therefore they must be disguised through, what Freud calls, displacement and condensation. Freud describes displacement using the example of the Sappho- dream of my patient, ascending and descending, being upstairs and down, is made the central point; the dream, however, is concerned with the danger of sexual relations with persons of low degree.' Condensation is seen because the dream is meagre, paltry and laconic in comparison with the range and copiousness of the dream-thoughts.' Nevertheless, dreams are not the only way repressed material finds an outlet; Freud refers to the parapraxis' or slips of the tongue, pen or unintended actions' (Beginning Theory 97) as another way for repressed material to seep out into the conscious mind.
The Psychodynamic view of dreaming suggests that the content in our dream is symbolic of something. Also, that the content in our dreams are based on unconscious desires as well as internal conflict.
Sigmund Freud noted as the Father of modern Psychology, believed that the function of dreaming was to allow the release of repressed instinctual impulses in a way that would preserve the ability to sleep, and that the instigating force causing dreams to occur was always a repressed thought or wish. Though Freud was an avid student of neurobiology, at the time when his suppositions were created scientists were unaware of certain aspects of the nervous system that today make Freudís theory unlikely (2). The stages of sleep, the biology of the brain, and the retention of dream memories all suggest an idea similar but contrary to Freudís theory. These factors lead one to believe that dreams are in fact not always subconscious or repressed thoughts, but often just the mindless ramblings of the brain and nervous system.
experience in 40 to 50 percent; and touch, taste, smell, and pain in a relatively