Abstract
The continuity hypothesis of dreaming states that waking life is continuous with dreams, but many of the factors that have been postulated to influence wake–dream continuity have rarely been studied. The present study investigated whether certain factors—emotional and stressfulness intensity, and certain types of experiences— influence the likelihood of a waking-life experience being incorporated into a dream. Participants (N � 32) kept dream diaries and waking-life experience logs for 14 consecutive days, and waking-life experiences were matched to dream reports. Waking-life experiences that were incorporated into dreams were significantly more emotional, but no more stressful, than those that were not incorporated into dreams. Major daily activities were incorporated significantly less than the combination of personally significant experiences, major concerns, and novel experiences. Results are discussed in terms of dream functionality, particularly in relation to a postulated emotional memory assimilation theory of dream function.
Highlights
The ‘Continuity Hypothesis’ of dreaming states that waking-life experiences are continued, or carried over, into dreams, and that dreams are continued into waking life (e.g. Hall & Nordby, 1972; Schredl, 2012; Schredl & Hoffman, 2003)
This paper presents the results of a study designed to investigate the question of whether certain factors – emotional intensity and stressfulness intensity, as well as certain types of experiences – influence the likelihood of a waking-life experience being incorporated into a dream
It was hypothesised that waking-life experiences that were incorporated into dreams would have significantly higher emotionality and stressfulness ratings than waking-life experiences that were not incorporated into dreams
Summary
The ‘Continuity Hypothesis’ of dreaming states that waking-life experiences (which may include activities, thoughts, and emotions) are continued, or carried over, into dreams, and that dreams are continued into waking life (e.g. Hall & Nordby, 1972; Schredl, 2012; Schredl & Hoffman, 2003). This paper presents the results of a study designed to investigate the question of whether certain factors – emotional intensity and stressfulness intensity, as well as certain types of experiences (everyday, personally significant, concerning, and novel) – influence the likelihood of a waking-life experience being incorporated into a dream. Several researchers have suggested that stressful waking-life experiences are preferentially incorporated into dreams, indicating that stressfulness, as well as emotionality, may be a factor that influences continuity Other researchers have hypothesised that dreams may reflect the consolidation of novel information: for example, Payne and Nadel (2004) suggested that dreams reflect the memory integration processes of weaving in new information into old material, and Stickgold et al (2001) suggested that dreams reflect the process of novel cortical associations being identified and evaluated in the brain These ideas all indicate that novel and/or personally significant experiences may be preferentially incorporated into dreams in order to be assimilated into and/or evaluated by the wider memory system.
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