Kluwer Academic/Human Sciences Press, Inc. New York City

Volume 11, Number 4, December 2001

Significant Dreams: Bizarre or Beautiful?
Roger M. Knudson
Page 167

Children's Understanding of Dreams as Mental States
Sarah Meyer and Cecilia Shore
Page 179

Definitions of Dream: A Paradigm for Comparing Field Descriptive Specific Studies of Dream
J. F. Pagel, M. Blagrove, R. Levin, B. States, B. Stickgold, and S. White
Page 195

Personalized Method for Interpreting Dreams (PMID)—As Applied to Relationship Issues
Evelyn Duesbury
Page 203

Roger M. Knudson
Significant Dreams: Bizarre or Beautiful?
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 11(4) 167-177, Dec 2001.

The literature on highly significant dreams is filled with references to the bizarreness of their content. On the other hand, the concept of beauty is rarely if ever mentioned in relation to these dreams. Grounded in archetypal psychology's tenet that psychological life is aesthetic life, this article argues that the enduring, even life-long, influence some dreams have on the dreamer's life may be better approached through the idea of beauty than through the idea of bizarreness. The argument builds on Hunt's (1989, 1995) theoretical model of the nature of consciousness and dream multiplicity with its emphasis on cross-modal synesthesia as well as on insights provided by Scarry's (1999) recent essay on beauty. A detailed account of how one composer's work was profoundly influenced by his most significant dream is presented to illustrate this aesthetic approach to understanding the on-going significance of significant dreams.

Key Words: significant dreams; impactful dreams; highly memorable dreams; aesthetic understanding; archetypal psychology; cross-modal synesthesia; dream bizarreness; beauty

Sarah Meyer and Cecilia Shore
Children’s Understanding of Dreams as Mental States
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 11(4) 179-194, Dec 2001.

Abstract:

Children’s understanding of dreams as mental states was examined as an instance of their development of a "theory of mind." Thirty-five children between the ages of three and seven were interviewed to determine how well children understood the reality, location, privacy, and origin of their own dream, versus that of a fictional character, matched for emotional valence. Theory of mind developments in understanding appearance vs. reality and perspective-taking were evaluated as predictors of dream understanding. Results revealed significant age increases in dream understanding that occur in a logical sequence predicted by Kohlberg. Theory of mind developments were correlated with children’s understanding of the reality and the privacy of dreams. These findings suggest that children as young as five, although their own dreams may be rare, are beginning to understand that Western culture deems dreams to be non-real, private, psychological occurrences.

Key Words: cognitive development; dream understanding; theory of mind; preschoolers.

J. F. Pagel, M. Blagrove, R. Levin, B. States, B. Stickgold, and S. White
Definitions of Dream: A Paradigm for Comparing Field Descriptive Specific Studies of Dream
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 11(4) 195-202, Dec 2001.

Abstract:

A single definition for dreaming is most likely impossible given the wide spectrum of fields engaged in the study of dreaming, and the diversity in currently applied definitions. Many studies do not specify a definition, yet results are likely to be comparable only when comparable definitions of the topic are used. The alternative is to develop a classification system organizing the multiplicity of definitions for dream. A dream should not be exclusively defined as a non-conscious electrophysiologic state. Dreaming is, at least in part, a mental experience that can be described during waking consciousness. Definitions for dreaming should be utilized in research and discussion which address the various axes which define dreaming: Wake/sleep, Recall, and Content.

Key Words: dream; definition; sleep; recall; content.

Evelyn Duesbury
Personalized Method for Interpreting Dreams (PMID)—As Applied to Relationship Issues
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 11(4) 203-216, Dec 2001.

The purpose of this study was to develop a dreamwork model that would help individuals deal with relationship issues. Seventy dreams, involving seven major relationships, were selected from the woman participant’s dreams. A dream interpretation model, the Personalized Method for Interpreting Dreams (PMID) was developed. Well-founded concepts in the PMID are: 1) dreams reflect emotions; and, 2) pre-dream thoughts, current circumstances, and personal definitions build dream meanings. The newest dreamwork concept of the PMID is the systemic perspective that relationship issues are best understood by discovering how relationship experiences influence our thoughts, emotions and behavior in other relationships. With a dreamwork systemic approach, the individual gathers together and studies series of dreams about major relationships in his or her life, primarily the family. Results of the thesis study show that the participant’s use of the model was a factor in reducing stressful relationship issues.