Common Questions About Dreams

Have you ever wondered why you dream and how you can sometimes direct it? Maybe you have wondered if your dream has any true meaning to it. You are not the only person who has these questions. These questions come up a lot when psychologists discuss the topic of dreaming. The topic of dreams and lucid dreaming has been around for hundreds of years. There have been many books and journals solely devoted to dreams and how they affect people today. The goal for this paper is to answer and explain the questions (Why do you dream? Can you direct your dreams? And do dreams have meanings?) using journals, books, and other resources written by widely known psychologists such as Sigmund Freud.

The first question that is going to be addressed in this paper is “Why do you dream?” There are many reasons why people dream. There are many reasons why people dream. One theory as to why people dream is that “dreams help us sort and place the day’s experiences into our memories. Deep, slow-wave REM sleep stabilizes our memories and experiences, converting them into long-term learning” (Baird p.96). Another theory is that your brain is always firing neurons; even when you are unconscious. The neurons that are being fired are the ones that are responsible for creating images and the limbic system (emotions). This results in your brain weaving these signals together. Therefore creating dreams. The last theory is that dreams play a main part in cognitive development. According to Baird “The brain activity associated with dreaming may help to develop and preserve neural pathways… The way dreams change over time also seems to indicate a developmental role.” (Baird p.97) The older you are the more your dreams change. When you are an adult your dreams t...

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...direct your dreams? And do dreams have meanings.) In the first paragraph the question “Why do you dream?” was explained. In the second paragraph the question “Can you direct your dreams?” was answered. The last question that was answered in this paper was “Do dreams have meanings?” By answering these questions the goal of this paper has been met.

Works Cited

Baird, Abigail A. "Chapter 6: Consciousness." Think Psychology. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall, 2010. 95-97. Print.

LaBerge, Stephen. "Lucid Dreaming: Psychophysiological Studies Of Consciousness During REM Sleep." (1990). Web. 30 Apr. 2014

Matalon, Nadav. "The Riddle Of Dreams." Philosophical Psychology 24.4 (2011): 517-536. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.

Young, Emma. "The I In Dreaming." New Scientist 209.2803 (2011): 36-39. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.