Predicting the frequency of dream recall.

Tested the hypothesis that dream recallers would have better memory for visual stimuli than dream nonrecallers. 50 recaller and 50 nonrecaller undergraduates were given tests of short- and long-term memory, incidental memory, and a personality battery consisting of measures of anxiety, repression-sensitization, and internal-external control. Results indicate that the memory variables and the Ss' self-reported number of awakenings distinguished between recallers and nonrecallers, whereas personality measures did not. It is concluded that the most important variable in dream recall may be individual differences in memory ability rather than differences in personality per se. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of training in dream recall and dream interpretation skills on dream recall, attitudes, and dream interpretation outcome.

Forty-two volunteer clients with below-average dream recall and attitudes toward dreams participated in training sessions focusing on either improving dream recall and attitudes toward dreams, building dream interpretation skills, or educating about counseling. After training, individual dream interpretation sessions were conducted. No significant differences were found among the 3 conditions in regard to dream recall, attitudes toward dreams, or client- or therapist-reported session outcome, but effect sizes suggested that participants in the skills condition gained more from sessions than did participants in the dream recall–attitudes condition. Session outcome for all volunteer clients was equivalent to those in previous studies of volunteer clients with no training, suggesting that training was not necessary and that these participants were able to benefit from single-session dream interpretation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Presleep mood and dream recall.

Studied evening mood rating sheets and dream diaries for 5 days during a 2-wk period, obtained from 67 college women. Dream recall at home was more likely to occur on mornings preceded by presleep mood ratings that were relatively negative; this was particularly true for infrequent dream recallers. Results fail to support repression hypotheses of dream recall that derive from Freud's "afterexpulsion" concept. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that presleep mood affects the salience, and thus the recallability, of the dream experience. Negative presleep mood was associated with more unpleasant dreams (characterized by threat, helplessness, and vulnerability), especially for Ss reporting lower overall self-confidence. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality correlates of dream recall.

Used the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF) to discriminate between those who frequently recall dreams and those who do not and to specify which traits contributed most to accuracy of discrimination. Discriminant analysis of 16 PF measures showed an almost perfect discrimination between 2 groups of undergraduates (n = 50), chosen by the diary method, as frequent and infrequent recallers. This result was substantially confirmed in a cross-validation sample of 40 Ss in which an overall accuracy of discrimination of 75% was achieved. 6 primary traits (Ego Strength, Guilt Proneness, Superego Strength, Parmia, Premsia, and Radicalism) were identified and confirmed by canonical analysis as contributing most to discrimination. Results indicate that the frequent recaller experiences less and the infrequent recaller experiences more intrapsychic conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role orientation and dream recall.

Compared dreams of 27 male and 32 female undergraduates categorized as "masculine" or "feminine" using Femininity scores on the California Psychological Inventory. Masculine Ss were rated higher on a general measure of maleness ("agency") than feminine Ss. Feminine males were rated higher on a measure of femaleness ("communion") than masculine males. Masculine Ss, especially males, more often had dreams of aggression. Ss, especially males, with sex role orientation contrary to stereotype had more unpleasant dreams than Ss whose sex role was congruent. Questionnaire estimations of dream recall frequency were more accurate predictors of subsequent dream recall frequency for Ss, especially males, with sex role orientations contrary to stereotype. Results support the assumption that sex role orientation rather than biological gender plays a fundamental role in determining dream content, and that the development of sex role-related aspects of life-style is more problematic for males than females. (46 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in dream recall.

Ss who typically fail to remember dreams at home (nonreporters) and Ss who frequently remember dreams (reporters) slept in the laboratory for 4 nights each. Gradual or abrupt awakenings were made at each EEG Stage-I REM (dream) period. Although nonreporters and reporters did not differ in REM-period frequency or EEG patterns during sleep, nonreporters did report dreaming less frequently following REM-period awakenings. Ss showed self-consistency in frequency of dream reporting and in type of failure to report. Some nonreporters typically failed to remember any content; others typically said they were awake and thinking. Comparisons among reporters and sub-groups of nonreporters for eye-movement frequency, arousal threshold, and dreamlike-report content indicate that it may be useful to distinguish different kinds of nonreporters. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream recall and dream recall failure: An arousal-retrieval model.

Proposes an arousal/retrieval model to account for difficulties in sleep learning and dream recall. The model is based on 2-stage memory theory, which assumes that information processing in a short-term memory store facilitates subsequent retrieval from long-term memory storage. It is proposed that the effectiveness of processing of target material is impaired during sleep. Thus, dreams and information contained in stimulus presentations to a sleeping person very likely can only be retrieved if an awakening occurs during the life of the short-term memory trace. It is further proposed that experiences occurring during or shortly after awakening compete with the target material for space in the limited-capacity processing system, with the most salient of the set favored in the competition. Interference and repression effects are assumed as additional factors in retrieval from long-term storage. (11/2 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A test of the salience hypothesis of dream recall.

Tested the hypothesis that dream salience (subjective impact of the generated dream) would be greater for frequent than infrequent dream recallers. Dream recall data from 8 frequent and 8 infrequent recallers (male undergraduates) were obtained under 2 conditions: tape-recorded verbal reports given to the E after interruption of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and written diary reports after awakening by alarm clock in the absence of the E. Analysis of the verbal reports confirmed the hypothesis. The relatively greater difference between the 2 groups in mean percentage of dream diary recall for Stage 2 (non rapid eye movement; NREM) than for REM awakenings suggests that salience differences between the 2 groups may be greater following NREM than REM awakenings. Although salience may be affected by dream recall as well as dream generation processes (imagery ability seems related to both), the higher frequency of temporal references to past and future in the dreams of frequent recallers appears to relate to the generation process alone. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a theory of dream recall.

Examines evidence for 3 hypotheses of dream recall in studies of variables characteristic of presleep, sleep, and postsleep periods. Neither correlational nor experimental data show consistent support for the hypothesis that repression affects dream recall. Salience and interference concepts are strongly supported and if taken together with cognitive and motivational variables, suggest a promising model for dream recall based on interactions among situational, organismic, and individual difference factors. (117 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential dream recall frequency as a component of "life style".

The relation of dream recall frequency (DRF) to variables associated with field independence and motivation to recall was investigated. Recallers have lower M thresholds and do better on the Embedded Figures Test than nonrecallers. High recallers feel more in control of their own lives than low recallers and have less curiosity into noninterpersonal matters. No differences were found in intolerance of ambiguity, total or interpersonal curiosity, future-orientation, or leisure-activity preferences. These findings, in conjunction with what is already known about the correlates of differential DRF, suggest the existence of 2 life styles: the "inner-acceptant," of which high DRF is a component and the "inner-rejectant," of which low DRF is a component. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of personality and presleep mood on dream recall.

Confirmed and extended previously reported evidence of a predictable association between presleep mood and dream recall. Of 81 college women who served as Ss, infrequent (but not frequent) dream recallers were more likely to recall dreams when presleep self-confidence was lowest than when it was highest for an individual S. This result directly contradicts the repression hypothesis of dream recall. In addition, for habitually low self-confident and "sensitizer" Ss only, the lowest self-confidence rating during a 5-day recording period was associated with unpleasant dream affect; the highest self-confidence rating was associated with pleasant dream affect. These findings support the hypothesis that the relationship between presleep mood and dream affect is modified by enduring S characteristics that reflect coping effectiveness. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperamental contributions to social behavior.

About 15% of Caucasian children in the second year of life are consistently shy and emotionally subdued in unfamiliar situations, whereas another 15% are consistently sociable and affectively spontaneous. A majority of the children in these two groups retain these profiles through their eighth year. In addition, the two groups differ in physiological qualities that imply differential thresholds in limbic sites, especially the amygdala and the hypothalamus, suggesting that the two temperamental groups are analogous to closely related strains of mammals. However, the behavioral profiles of the children are influenced in a major way by environmental conditions existing during the early years of life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of therapist-facilitated and self-guided dream interpretation sessions.

Twenty-five volunteer clients participated in both a therapist-facilitated and a self-guided dream interpretation session; sessions were randomly ordered and separated by approximately 1 week. Observer and therapist ratings indicated that therapists adhered to the C. E. Hill (1996) model during therapist-facilitated sessions. Clients reported achieving greater depth, mastery, and insight, as well as more dream exploration-insight gains and more action-related gains, from therapist-facilitated sessions than from self-guided sessions. In addition, 88% of the clients preferred therapist-facilitated over self-guided sessions. Implications for using both types of sessions are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists' contributions to the genetic revolution.

Responds to the comments of H. Goldsmith et al (see record 2003-05602-013) and S. Kéri (see record 2003-05602-014) regarding the article by A. Patenaude et al (see record 2002-12457-022) that discusses the role of psychologists in genetics and genetic testing. Patenaude reviews the comments made and states that both comments enlarge the discussion of the important roles psychologists will continue to play as genetics advances the knowledge of the etiology and treatment of disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frequency of dream recall estimated by three methods and related to defense preference and anxiety.

Measured dream recall frequency (DRF) in 80 male undergraduates by questionnaire (Q), diary (D), and sleep interruption via telephone (T). Q DRF was high for aggression out, projection, and denial, and low for intellectualization and aggression in (p > .05), especially for Ss higher on test anxiety (p     

Electroencephalogram and rapid eye movements during free imagery and dream recall.

Monitored electrooculogram, EEG, EMG, and heart rate of 10 male undergraduates under a visual imagery condition (free imagery) and a dream recall condition. Only the dream recall condition was associated with alpha desynchronization. The imagery of the dream recall condition was characterized by more primary process, more kinetic imagery, more frequent episodes of imagery, longer duration of images, and greater heart rate. Both conditions were associated with an equal increase in REMs, which were more characteristic of the waking state than those observed during nocturnal dreams. The differences between the conditions are discussed in terms of the nature of the tasks involved and the evidence of primary process regulation of the imagery in the dream recall condition. (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Knowledge, strategy, and motivational contributions to preschool children's object recall.

This study examined the contributions of four individual difference predictors to preschool children's recall for object names. Measures of object knowledge (the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test [PPVT]), conceptual tempo (the Kansas Reflection-Impulsivity Scale for Preschoolers [KRISP] error scores), strategic study period activities, and teacher ratings of children's mastery motivation were used to predict recall scores of 3- and 4-year-old children. KRISP-error scores, strategic study activities, and motivation ratings were found to be significant correlates of recall. Motivation ratings entered a regression prediction equation first, followed by the strategic study activity measure, yielding a multiple correlation of .62. These predictors were unrelated, suggesting that motivational factors contributed to young children's recall proficiency directly, perhaps through greater task involvement and analysis and more effortful retrieval activity, and do not mediate strategic study behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Partitioning environmental and genetic contributions to behavioral development.

Model-fitting methods are described for estimating genetic and environmental contributions to the variation of behavioral traits. These methods are illustrated by application to data from recent large twin studies of neuroticism and extraversion and to summary data on IQ. Some possible environmental and genetic implications of the results are considered. The environmental implications of these analyses may be of even more interest to psychologists than the genetic ones. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prose recall in dementia. A comparison of delay intervals

OBJECTIVE: To explore one methodological variation, delay length, that may contribute to contradictory findings in the literature regarding the use of delayed recall in the detection of early-stage dementia of the Alzheimer type. DESIGN: Comparison of participants with dementia and without dementia on a prose recall task at both 10- and 30-minute delay intervals. SETTING: Washington University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, St Louis, Mo. PARTICIPANTS: Participants with very mild dementia of the Alzheimer type (n = 136) and uncompromised elderly individuals (n = 197). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Results of the Logical Memory subtest from the Wechsler Memory Scale with immediate recall and 10- and 30-minute delayed recall. RESULTS: Participants with dementia recalled significantly less material than elderly controls at both immediate and delayed recall (P < .001). Multiple regression analyses revealed that dementia classification failed to account for additional variance in the 30-minute delayed score beyond that which could be accounted for by the immediate score. A small but significant proportion of variance was accounted for in the 10-minute delayed score beyond that which could be accounted for by the immediate recall score. CONCLUSION: Delayed recall of a prose passage does not appear to enhance the differentiation of very mild dementia of the Alzheimer type from normal aging in a meaningful way, whether the recall delay is 10 or 30 minutes.