Narrative Qualities of Bad Dreams and Nightmares
Purpose. The purpose of the research is to extricate the differences between the content of nightmares and that of bad dreams. Researchers hypothesized that in comparison to bad dreams, nightmares would exhibit higher levels of emotionality, negative affect, death references, and aggression. Additionally, it was posited that higher levels of aggression would include greater degrees of aggressive intensity, number of aggressive acts, and victimization.
Design. This research engaged a correlational design, with the two dependant variables being “bad dreams” and “nightmares”. The six independent variables were “negative emotion”, “positive emotion”, “number of references to death”,
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“severity of aggression”, “intensity of aggression”, and “degree of victimization”. Methods.
In order to operationalize the constructs of interest, disturbed dreaming types were conceptually defined, with differentiation equating to nightmares, not bad dreams, causing the dreamer to wake up. Dream content was operationalized through its identification via the use of The Daily Dream Log (DDL; Levin & Fireman, 2002), which also tallied dreams types, and provided written narratives of disturbed dreams. Predictor variables were operationalized through the use of The Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC; Pennebaker et al., 2001) which identified words in participants’ written narratives related to each predictor variable. The measurement of predictor variables was then made possible by Hall and Van de Castle’s coding system (HVC; 1966), by placing the identified words into categories related to the predictor variables. More specifically, the negative emotion and positive emotion variables were operationalized through the summation of words falling into their respective HVC categories. In addition, a researcher designed 9-point Likert scale measured the degree of emotionality linked to each dream. The number of references to death variable was measured through a summation of words in its HVC category. The severity of aggression variable was measured by placing the coded words into a variety of aggression type categories, and subsequently converting them into an ordinal scale. The intensity of aggression variable was measured through a researcher designed 9-point Likert scale. Finally, the degree of victimization variable was measured through a summation of words in its HVC
category. Results. A convenience sample of 312 undergraduate students meeting inclusion criteria participated in this study. T-tests indicated that bad dream narratives included more negative and positive emotion, which was more clearly expressed, than nightmare narratives. In contrast, a multivariate analysis of variance indicated the level of overall aggression was significantly higher for nightmares, even when controlling for gender. Similarly, a univariate analysis indicated that aggression was more severe and bounteous in nightmare narratives, and contained more acts of victimization, than bad dream narratives. Authors Conclusions. Researchers concluded that aggression is a key component in differentiating bad dreams from nightmares. More specifically that, true to their hypothesis, nightmares contain higher levels of emotional fluctuation, and significantly more references to death, which results in elevated fear. It was also posited that bad dream narratives may have contained more references to emotion because nightmares cause an early wakening due to fear, ultimately giving bad dreams longer narratives. Thus, early awakening may be used to differentiate nightmares from bad dreams. Evaluating the Electronic Textbook Purpose. This study’s purpose was to assess the use of electronic textbooks through the differentiation of perceptions and performance of students who used electronic textbooks, and those who used traditional paper textbook. Researchers hypothesized that students who used the digital textbooks would spend more time reading, be more involved in what they read, and have greater classroom success than those who used paper textbooks. Design. This research was a retrospective observational study, engaging a between subjects design in order to compare the differences between groups, as related to three independent variables. The treatment groups included “electronic textbook” and “paper textbook” users. The three independent variables were operationalized measures of “demographics”, “performance”, and “perception”. Methods. Investigators measured the constructs of interest through one researcher designed survey, including one category for each independent variable, completed by participants at the end of a one-semester class. An ordinal scale was applied to the demographics variable, which included questions regarding participant’s current grade point average, ownership of a computer, past use of electronic texts, and typical study location. In addition, a 7-point Likert scale was used to evaluate level of computer knowledge, enjoyment of computer use, and level of text helpfulness in class preparation. The performance variable was operationalized through the measurement of time spent reading the text, and final course grade. The portion of the survey responsible for the evaluation variable was completed only by participants in the electronic text group. A 7-point Likert scale ranging from ‘not at all’ to ‘extremely’, was applied to the degree of like, ease of use, convenience, probable future use, and recommendation for use. Additionally, participants were asked which text they would purchase if they could do it over again. Results. Convenience sampling methods garnered 392 undergraduate participants, with treatment groups determined by the type of text chosen for use in a specified introductory psychology university course, resulting in a comparatively small electronic text group (n =37). A further disparity of equivalence between treatment groups is immediately apparent upon analysis of the demographics variable, which revealed that all individuals with prior electronic text experience chose to be in the paper text group. Reversely, all participants in the electronic text group had no past experience with this text format. In addition, t-tests indicated the paper text group averaged less years of undergraduate education. Beyond this bias, evaluation of the performance variable identified a significant difference in time spent studying, but contrary to initial expectations, the paper text group studied an additional 0.3 hours per week. Contrary to the main hypothesis, the evaluation variable revealed that although participants found the electronic text somewhat easy to use, they also found it: inconvenient; liked it only neutrally; were unwilling to use it in the future, or recommend it. This negative evaluation is consistent with findings in the demographic variable indicating that all individuals who had prior experience with an electronic text chose to be in the paper text group. Authors Conclusions. In contrast to their initial hypothesis, authors concluded that electronic textbooks were not a favourable choice for participants in this study. Additionally, the significant difference in time spent studying was found to be troubling, especially since it did not affect either groups’ performance in relationship to the final grade. Past research clearly links time spent studying with final grade, therefore, it was suggested that caution be employed in the application of these results. Interrogation
The American Dream. What is it exactly? Well, it is the ideal that every U.S. citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. However, can everyone really achieve it? Yes, anyone can achieve the American Dream with enough hard work and dedication to pursue a good life. In order to maintain the American Dream there are some important ways to achieve it. Such as: a strong work ethic, a good education, and being determined.
A New Kind of Dreaming is a novel written by Anthony Eaton, about a teenage boy, Jamie Riley, being referred to rural Western Australia where, he meets new friends, enemies and also discovers a shocking secret about the towns head police officer. The pressure to find out the secret puts Jamie in a great deal of trouble, from being frightened by the police, blamed for a fire and vandalism offences and even going missing in the desert. The characters have authority or are defenceless.
There are many causes, treatments, symptoms and ways to diagnose insomnia. With that in mind there are also different kinds of insomnia. There are three main types of insomnia each type has their own symptoms and behaviors that go along with it.
Second is short term insomnia less than 3 weeks caused by personal stress of an ongoing
The average person spends over one-third of their life sleeping, and over this period of time he or she can have over 1,825 dreams (Wicklinski). By definition, dreams are mental images, thoughts, or emotions that are experienced while sleeping. In the beginning, dreams were thought to be messages sent from the gods or spirit world. Researchers now have many theories explaining why people dream. Many of these theories explain that dreams can resemble an individual’s sensory experiences or even secret wishes. All people dream, but only 42% of people can recall their dreams from the night before (“Dreams”). The study of dreams is a topic that is constantly being debated by researchers for many reasons. Dreaming is important because it can impact people’s health, provide insight into what they are feeling, and reveal information about their behavior.
Fisher, C.J., Byrne, A., Edwards, and Kahn, E. (1970) REM and NREM nightmares. In E. Hartman (ed), Sleep and Dreaming. Boston : Little Brown
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.
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.
Insomnia is a sleeping disorder characterised by difficulty in falling and maintaining sleep; even when sufficient time for sleep is made available, it affects roughly 10% of adults (Roth, 2007). Insomnia symptoms have correlated with presence anxiety and depression (Jansson-Fröjmark & Lindblom, 2008; Roth et al.2006), and in cases insomnia has predated the onset of mood disorders (Johnson, Roth & Breslau, 2006). Insomnia can also be caused by: pain from injury, poor sleep hygiene, medications, medical conditions, mental disorders and stimulants; like nicotine, caffeine and other pharmaceuticals. Sleep deprivation can result in: muscle aches, cognitive impairment, memory impairment and irritability, furthermore sleep deprivation has; in cases, shown to be a contributing risk factor in more severe medial conditions; such as increased heart rate and blood pressure, increased risk of diabetes and obesity (McNeil, Doucet & Chaput, 2013; Beihl, Liese & Haffner, 2009). Increases in impaired judgement and risk taking behaviour correlate with sleep loss (Meldrum & Restivo 2014), symptoms can occur for up to 3 weeks in short term cases; or for more than 3 weeks in chronic cases. Given the importance of sleep in maintaining good health and its necessity in aiding development; as well as restoration of the body and memory processing, loss of sleep is not something that should be taken lightly. This essay aims to critically evaluate the treatment effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) by analysing individual components of the therapy, and their influence on the treatment as a whole. A non-pharmacological treatment, CBT-I attempts to treat Insomnia by first attempting to understand the root cause of symptoms, as w...
Many believe, “dreams are a series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur in the mind during certain stages of sleep” (Braden, 1). According to Freud, he claims that dreams are a series of events and images that are perceived through the mind during sleep (McLeish, 2). He said, “If you want to learn about an individual you could do so by interpreting their dreams” (McLeish, 5). For instance, Freud thinks a person expresses themselves through their dreams. Unlike Freud, “Jung’s depiction of dreams concentrated on symbolic imagery” (Jacobson, 3). He believed differently. He believes an individual’s dream do not distinguish the true meaning of the individual (Jacobson, 3). In other words, Jung thinks a person can dream about anything, and it will mean nothing (Jacobson, 3). Instead, he believes dreams have many different meanings and that they do not interpret ideas (McLeish, 3). He sees dreams like a series of events. Freud disagrees because he believes it is the individual’s character and self-creating the imaginations (Jacobson, 3). In other words, Freud develops a theory that dreams come from the individual’s thoughts and personality, and Jung develops a theory that dreams are just symbolic imagery and have no true
Insomnia is a tenacious disorder that can make it difficult to fall asleep, insufficient sleep or both, constant awakenings all through the night, and waking up early in the mornings with the inability to fall back to sleep. In the case of insomnia and individual will awake with feeling unrefreshed, tired, sluggish, exhausted, irritable, which will make you less functional and difficulty on concentrating and performing an everyday task. Insomnia can not only interfere with your energy level and mood, but also can affect your health, your job performance, and quality of life. Most adult’s experience insomnia at some point of time although some adult’s may develop chronic insomnia over a period of time if it’s not cured. The normal amount an individual must sleep in order to have a desirable functional day is to have at least 7 to 8 hours a sleep a night. Individuals with insomnia mostly have anywhere from 5 to 6 hours or less sleep. Insomnia is a curable disease so an individual do not have to endure with sleepless nights; simple changes in your daily habits can often help many with the disorder.
Many people suffer from bad dreams, often referred to as nightmares, every night. It is not uncommon to experience fright filled slumber from time to time, but some people are inclined to suffer more often than an occasional bad dream. While some mental health professionals believe nightmares reduce mental tensions by allowing the mind to act out its fears, new research suggests that bad dreams are more likely to increase anxiety in everyday life. In addition to life’s anxieties, what other factors contribute to nightmares and why?
One out of every three people is affected by symptoms of mild insomnia. Those restless nights of staring at the ceiling could actually have an actual cause. The real issues of insomnia are the side effects that come from the sleep deprivation. The side effects could lead to much more serious physical and mental conditions so to understand the hows and whys of insomnia, every aspect of it must be explored.
The inability to get sleep, get good quality of sleep, or even stay asleep is known as insomnia. There are many causes of insomnia, both biological and environmental factors. Some of the psychological causes are mood and anxiety, past experiences, or your sleep environment. Some of the physiological causes are pain, neurological disorders, and conditions associated with difficult in breathing. Almost half of the world’s population is affected with insomnia. People with a genetic predisposition are mostly likely to suffer from insomnia, however, habits and other environmental factors relate to nurture as well.
Insomnia is defined as a "prolonged and usually abnormal inability to get enough sleep" in simpler words, insomnia is the difficulty of falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, general sleep quality, or some kind of combination of all these symptoms. We all have bad nights of sleep from here to there, but insomnia is classified as a long pattern that’s not only a night time issue, but trickles into the day time with some kind of problem with sleepiness, fatigue or concentration on issues. Everyone has usually encountered some type of insomnia, usually acute insomnia. But when acute becomes chronic insomnia ( ranges around three months, occurring 3 or more times a week) it becomes diagnosed as a sleep disorder. Insomnia is a pretty common disorder found among Americans, according to NPR, more then 60 million Americans were effected this year alone. Insomnia is a serious sleeping disorder effecting millions per year, in my essay I will address the symptoms in insomnia, the treatments, and the reason the disorder occurs.