Finding Dreams. Comparing the Different Functions and Meanings

1576 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Sigmund freud interpretation of dreams

Finding dreams. Comparing the different functions and meanings.

For years, psychologists have been wondering over the mysterious field of dreams. Dreams have always been mysterious. The content of the dreams can shift instantly, featuring unexplained events or sudden terrifying images (Whitman, Ornstein & Baldridge, 1964). The fact that the content of dreams can be enthralling is what causes many psychologists to believe that there has to be some implication to dreams (Webb & Cartwright, 1978). While many theories are formed to explain the functions and meanings of dreams, there is a lack of evidence on their purpose. In fact, recent researchers such as G. William Domhoff suggested that dreams most likely serve no real purpose (Domhoff, 2001). This research essay considers the whether there are a significant functions and meanings of dreams by responding to the following questions.

1. What are the theories explaining dreams?

2. What are the limitations behind those theories?

3. Is there any contrast between those theories?

4. Do dreams serve any purpose in psychology?

Understanding the differences between theories would help to understand more about the anonymity called dreams.

What are the theories explaining dreams?

In the early 1900s, Sigmund Freud proposed that dreams serve as a gateway between a dreamers’ conscious and his subconscious thoughts (Mccurdy, 1946). Many ideas and information were condensed into a single dream. The dream displaced important parts and insignificant parts of the dream to confuse the dreamer. Certain objects would be introduced into the dream to symbolize the embryonic substance of the dream (Sprengnether, 2003). The dreamer would then comprehend the dream, thus generating the content of th...

... middle of paper ...

...nce of sleep: neuronal systems, consciousness and learning. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3(9), 679-693. doi:10.1038/nrn915

Mccurdy, H. G. (1946). The history of dream theory. Psychological Review, 53(4), 225-233. doi:10.1037/h0062107

Neher, A. (1996). Jung'S Theory of Archetypes: A Critique. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 36(2), 61-91. doi:10.1177/00221678960362008

Sprengnether, M. (2003). Mouth To Mouth: Freud, Irma, And The Dream Of Psychoanalysis. American Imago, 60(3), 259-284. doi:10.1353/aim.2003.0020

Webb, W. B., & Cartwright, R. D. (1978). Sleep and Dreams. Annual Review of Psychology, 29(1), 223-252. doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.29.020178.001255

Whitman, R. M., Ornstein, P. H., & Baldridge, B. J. (1964). An experimental approach to the psychoanalytic theory of dreams and conflicts. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 5(6), 349-363. doi:10.1016/S0010-440X(64)80045-6

Show More
Related

  • Stephen King Symbolic Language Of Dreams Analysis

    438 Words  | 1 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Freud's Theory of Dreaming and Repression

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Exploringn a Neurobiological Theory of Dreaming

    487 Words  | 1 Pages

    However this theory does not provide a convincing argument of the fact that some dreams possess clear meaning and coherence. This theory has little value in explaining why some time dreams are repetitive. Describe and evaluate one psychological theory of dreaming?

    Read More

  • Dream Interpretation: Sigmund Freud

    1522 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Subconscious Dreams Research Paper

    2345 Words  | 5 Pages

    A variety of dream theories will be analysed after which a number of benefits to dreaming will be explored. It will implicate different possible dream applications drawing information from dream-themed books and movies. The ethical concerns of such innovations will be scrutinised. • Limitations The report is limited to a scientific perspective mainly due to the word count.

    Read More

  • Unraveling the Intricacies of Dreams

    1163 Words  | 3 Pages

    Psychology, neuroscience try to explain them, 2012). He studied dreams to better understand aspects of personality as they relate to pathology. Freud believed that every action is motivated by the unconscious at a certain level. In order to be successful in a civilized society, the urges and desires of the unconscious mind must be repressed. Freud believed that dreams are manifestations of urges and desires that are suppressed in the unconscious. Freud categorized the mind into three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. When one is awake, the impulses if the id are suppressed by the superego, but during dreams, one may get a glimpse into the unconscious mind, or the id. The unconscious has the opportunity to express hidden desires of the id during dreaming. Freud believed that the id can be so disturbing at times that the id’s content can be translated into a more acceptable form. This censor leads to a sometimes confusing and strange dream image. According to Freud, the reason one may struggle to remember a dream is because the superego protects the conscious mind from the disturbance of the unconscious mind (Dream Theories,

    Read More

  • Spellbound, By Sigmund Freud

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    When humans wake up from sleeping, we do not always recollect our dreams, yet the brain is still dreaming of what has actually happened. Dreams are formed through various processes, with the past being transformed into content that is thought to be not creative. Freud mentions in the On Dreams that dreams do not make things up that the psyche has not already experienced. As Freud states our dreams are not creative works, “…dream-work is not creative, that it develops no phantasies of its own, that is makes no judgements and draws no conclusions…” (Freud 162). In his terms, dream-work is known as the transformation process that dream-thought shifts to dream-content; consisting of both latent content and manifest

    Read More

  • Theories About Dreams

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory of Dreams

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, a psychologist named Sigmund Freud welcomed the new age with his socially unacceptable yet undoubtedly intriguing ideologies; one of many was his Psychoanalytic Theory of Dreams. Freud believed that dreams are the gateway into a person’s unconscious mind and repressed desires. He was also determined to prove his theory and the structure, mechanism, and symbolism behind it through a study of his patients’ as well as his own dreams. He contended that all dreams had meaning and were the representation of a person’s repressed wish. While the weaknesses of his theory allowed many people to deem it as merely wishful thinking, he was a brilliant man, and his theory on dreams also had many strengths. Freud’s theories of the unconscious mind enabled him to go down in history as the prominent creator of Psychoanalysis.

    Read More

  • Parasomnia

    1529 Words  | 4 Pages

    Fisher, C.J., Byrne, A., Edwards, and Kahn, E. (1970) REM and NREM nightmares. In E. Hartman (ed), Sleep and Dreaming. Boston : Little Brown

    Read More

  • Exploring Dreams: Why Do We Dream?

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    Knowing what is dream, let us explore how the concept of dream first comes about. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was considered the father of dreams. Dr. Freud’s began analyzing dream in order to understand the different aspects of personality as they relate to pathology. He believes that nothing can occur by chance. At every level of our unconscious mind, every thought is being motivated. Dr. Freud’s theories are based on the idea of repressed longing and the desires that cannot be expressed in a social setting. Dream allow...

    Read More

  • Dream Interpretation Of Dreams

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dream interpretations have formed a large part of Freud’s method of understanding mental life; he also believed that subdued materials often surfaced in dreams in a symbolic form. Dreams can be confusing, frightening, or wonderful, which reveals our innermost secrets.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Freud And Freud's Interpretation Of Dreams

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Sleeping and Dreaming

    4847 Words  | 10 Pages

    In 2004–2005, the Penn Humanities Forum will focus on the topic of “Sleep and Dreams.” Proposals are invited from researchers in all humanistic fields concerned with representations of sleep, metaphors used to describe sleep, and sleep as a metaphor in itself. In addition, we solicit applications from those who study dreams, visions, and nightmares in art or in life, and the approaches taken to their interpretation. We also welcome proposals about the effects of dreaming on the dreamer, and the resulting emotions, behaviors, and actions taken or foregone in response to dreams. In this Forum on Sleep and Dreams, we will see how the diversity of academic disciplines can help answer important questions about sleep and dreaming—questions that may touch the basis of human intellect.

    Read More

  • What Is Sleeping And Dreams Essay

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ever since I was a child, dreams have had a huge influence on me. I’ve always found them fascinating in how they can hold so many different ideas or creations. Especially since they occur while you’re asleep. Throughout the years I’ve slowly been able to remember more and more details about my dreams, I even experience lucid dreaming every now and then. Which is why I have chosen to write my paper on dreams and sleeping. How sleeping works, how sleeping and dreams relate to someone psychologically, and the different types of dreams.

    Read More

More about Finding Dreams. Comparing the Different Functions and Meanings

Open Document