Kendra Cherry Why Do We Dream Analysis

Vanessa Cervini

Professor Evans

General Psychology 1

20 February 2014

Kendra Cherry “Why Do We Dream?”

Retrieved from: http://psychology.about.com/od/statesofconsciousness/p/dream-theories.htm

In this brief analysis, Cherry explains how dreams have had philosophers star struck for thousands of years. Everyone has had at least one dream they somewhat remember and have been puzzled about, and this article helps explain why. “Why do we dream? What purpose do dreams serve? While many theories have been proposed, no single consensus has emerged.” (Kendra Cherry) Cherry states that some philosophers think dreams have no true purpose, but others beg to differ. Some psychologists think dreams actually help the brain grow. Although there is no right explanation for dreams, there are many different theories on how they affect us and what their true purpose is. 1 Freud, S. (1900). The interpretation of dreams.

Patrick McNamara (2011) “The impact of dreams on your social life.”

McNamara suggests that the impacts of dreams is unappreciated. He thinks that dreams may play a significant on how we interact with one another. McNamara thinks that dreams have possibly been significant even the ancestral populations. McNamara asks, “What else might they do?” And he goes on to explain that social interactions is one of the most interesting things that dreams could possibly affect. He says most dreams that are recalled occur during the late night or early morning during one’s REM sleep. He also states that one’s mood within a dream may affect their mood throughout the rest of the day.

Unknown (2011) “How do my dreams interact with my waking life?”

This article discusses how there is “clear relationships between waking life and dreams”. This pers...

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...eality. Knudson also explains experiments where people say dreams refer to their future. He also goes over theories of how dreams represent ourselves.

Shaunacy Ferro “Where Do Dreams Come From?”( Posted 09.13.2013)

Ferro explains whether dreams are pure imagination or if there a reflex coming from the brain. She explains that even the most basic type of dreaming comes from the brainstem. She explains an experiment where 13 people with auto-activation deficit and 13 healthy people were told to keep a dream diary, and the results were quite odd. Most of the people with auto-activation deficit recorded none or short, simplistic dreams. She goes on to explain where dreams come from, and how they’re “formed”. She also explains how its possible if people don’t have a spontaneous day, their dreams may be more wild, trying to create the feeling of an active day.