Human Sciences Press, Inc., New York City

Volume 2, Number 2, June 1992

"Masochism" in Dreaming and its Relation to Depression
Rosalind D. Cartwright
Page 79

Efficacy of Lucid Dream Induction for Lucid and Non-Lucid Dreamers
Antonio L. Zadra, D.C. Donderi and Robert O. Pihl
Page 85

The Sense of Inevitability Following Nightmares
Melvin R. Lansky and Carol R. Bley
Page 99

Perestroika of the Self: Dreaming in the U.S.S.R.
Mary Watkins
Page 111

Russia. Dreaming. Liberation.
Michael Dupré
Page 123

Nielsen, Tore A.; Powell, Russell A.
The day-residue and dream-lag effects: A literature review and limited replication of two temporal effects in dream formation.
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 2(2) 67-77, Jun 1992.

Abstract:

Several studies point to the existence of two types of effects which describe the temporal relationship between daytime experiences and nighttime dreams: the day-residue effect, i.e., the incorporation into dreams of material from the immediately preceding day, and the dream-lag effect, i.e., the incorporation of material into dreams of material from 6-8 days prior. A review of previous research suggests that the proportion of dreams containing day residues is about twice that for events occurring 2 days prior to the dream, approximately 65-70% of reports. Much less research supports the dream-lag effect, however. In an attempt to replicate previous demonstrations of these effects, 84 undergraduates were asked to keep home records of their dreams and important daily events for a 14-day period. Dreams were then judged for the extent to which they incorporated these daily events. Results clearly supported the day-residue effect, but gave inconclusive results for the dream-lag effect. At present, imprecision in report collection and other conservative features of the experimental design, as well as findings from previous studies, do not warrant complete rejection of the notion of dream-lag effect.

Key Words: dreaming; day residue; dream-lag effect; chronobiology; infradian rhythm; autobiographical memory.

Cartwright, Rosalind D.
"Masochism" in dreaming and its relation to depression.
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 2(2) 79-84, Jun 1992.

Abstract:

Beck's scale for Dream "Masochism" was scored for the content reports from four REM periods of 70 volunteer subjects all going through marital separation with the expectation that they would be divorced. Half the subjects were of each sex. Forty met Research Diagnostic Criteria for depression and a Beck Depressions Inventory score at or above 14 and 30 did not. Sixty-one subjects returned one year later for repeat sleep and dream recording. Women, whether depressed or not, had higher dream "Masochism" scores at both testing points than men. Dreaming of being subjected to negative events, and/or negative self-definitions appears to be a continuing trait more characteristic of women than men. This tendency becomes exacerbated during a depressive episode. This self blaming style of emotional response may help account for the higher rates of depression among women.

Key Words: masochism; depression; dreaming; divorce.

Zadra, Antonio L.; Donderi, D. C.; Pihl, Robert O.
Efficacy of lucid dream induction for lucid and non-lucid dreamers.
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 2(2) 85-97, Jun 1992.

Abstract:

The efficacy of a lucid dream induction (LDI) technique was evaluated. Two groups of subjects were introduced to Tholey's (1983) combined technique for lucid dream induction. One group had experienced lucid dreams while the other group reported never having experienced lucid dreams. Another group of non-lucid dreamers served as a nontreatment control group. Among previously non-lucid dreamers, a significantly greater proportion of subjects who were presented with the LDI technique reported a lucid dream. This group also reported more lucid dreams in total than the nontreatment control group. Among prior lucid dreamers, the technique was found to increase the number, relative to baseline levels, of lucid dreams reported. No significant differences between lucid and non-lucid dreamers were found in terms of dream recall, amount of attention paid to one's dreams, and degree of meaning attributed to one's dreams. Lucid dreamers reported a significantly greater number of nightmares and rated their dreams as being significantly less vivid than did non-lucid dreamers. These results are discussed in light of previous findings and new research directions suggested.

Key Words: dreaming; lucid dreaming; nightmares.

Lansky, Melvin R.; Bley, Carol R.
The sense of inevitability following nightmares.
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 2(2) 99-109, Jun 1992.

Abstract:

In a sample of 63 nightmare sufferers among consecutive admissions to an inpatient psychiatric unit, ten patients (16%) identified these nightmares as prophetic. The sense of inevitability attached to the manifest content concerned unconscious aggression, unconscious guilt, reversal of narcissistic injury, or struggles with withdrawal from drugs or alcohol. Of the ten patients, eight gave clearcut and two likely histories of childhood abuse. This sense of inevitability was related to unconscious wishes for the event in the dream scenario, a wish for structure and justice in the world, and an uncanny sense which foreshadowed the imminent emergence of unconscious contents.

Key Words: inevitability; dreams; nightmares; child abuse; prophecy.

Watkins, Mary.
Perestroika of the self: Dreaming in the U.S.S.R.
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 2(2) 111-122, Jun 1992.

Abstract:

Dreams both reflect and transcend culture. A culture's approach to dreams reflects its understanding of personhood, which is constructed in a socio-cultural, political and historical context. A comparison of Soviet and American treatment of dreams illumines how totalitarian collectivism and secular individualism can affect a culture's understandings of dreams and imaginal experience. Certain qualities of dreams can be used to help the practice of a more interdependent construction of the self: dreams' opening of reality to a multiplicity of characters' perspectives, their free and autonomous arising outside of the heroic ego's conscious, rational control, their spontaneous moments of sympathetic identification with others which release one from local identities and social roles, their openness to the world and nature.

Key Words: dreams; culture; self; Russia; America.

Dupré, Michael.
Russia. dreaming. liberation.
Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Vol 2(2) 123-134, Jun 1992.

Abstract:

This essay is the narrative of an AIDS patient who attended the "Dreaming in Russia" conference in August of 1991. Arriving in Moscow on the day of the coup, the international group was gripped by fear. Though he had been engulfed by a certain darkness over the summer, the author discovered that his own personal cataclysm melted into the greater socio-historical cataclysm providing a great release as well as a genuine concern for issues more global. Fresh dreams are recorded throughout making clearer the events of the days. The account of the funeral procession for the three Russians killed by the tanks and the visit to the monastery of Zagorsk (seat of the Russian Orthodox patriarchy) eventually lead to a description of a very successful group dreamwork on the theme of "facing death." Dreams and dreamwork are regarded as ways of coping with our own existential dramas.

Key Words: dream; Russia; AIDS; healing.