Cognitive+Theory+of+Dreaming

Definition:
The view that ‍‍dreaming is thinking while asleep. Gen Psych, CH 4, pp. 119‍‍


 * __Two other theories/hypothesis of dreaming__**
 * Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis of dreaming**
 * Evolutionary theory of dreaming**

__**Information**__ < span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hall believed that dreams were a conceptualization of our experiences (Hall, 1953). These experiences involved our perceptions of those in our environment, as well as our ideas of our self. His Cognitive Theory of dreaming was one of the first of his time that was not consistent with Freud’s idea of “wishful thinking”. Instead, Hall believed that our dreams were a way of shaping our own ideas of the world. He believed that during dreams, we expressed creativity, similar to what we would do when expressing ourselves through metaphors in poetry(Hall, 1953). < span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hall developed five main conceptions that were present in our dreams (Hall, 1966): < span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">Because Hall was a behavioral psychologist, he believed that our conceptions have a tremendous impact on our behavior when awake.These accomplishments have made a tremendous influence in the field of studying dreams. The scale provided the first opportunity to // measure dream cognition // in a quantitative and statistical way! < span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">Source: []
 * 1) // ourselves // (how we see ourselves and our prominent roles in life)
 * 2) // others // ( how we react to others around us)
 * 3) // the world // (optimism vs. pessimism)
 * 4) // morals // (what is accepted as human beings and what are our limits)
 * 5) // conflict // (conflicts within our psyche)

**Related Pages:**
Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis of dreaming, page 126 evolutionary theory of dreaming, page 127

Analogies:
Math Class:Dreaming School:Sleep

Mnemonics:
Gear Theory

In the news:

 * Information about the psychologist who proposed this theory**:

Calvin Hall (1909-1985) was born in Seattle, Washington. As a psychologist, he was extremely interested in the field of behavior genetics and wrote a chapter in the Handbook of Experimental Psychology (1951) on his discovery of the heritability of genes in rats. In the 1950s Hall wrote The Meaning of Dreams (1953)A Primer of Freudian Psychology(1954) and Theories of Personality (1957); three works of which enormously contributed to the field of dream interpretation. As an undergraduate, Hall worked with Edward Tollman, who was a well known behaviorist of the time. In 1930 Hall received his bachelors from the University of California, Berkeley, and continued to obtain his Ph.D. in 1933. Dream Collections His interest in dreams began when he started collecting reports of dreams that were written by his students (anonymously, of course). He then continued to collect reports from others, and when he passed away he had acquired over 50,000 dream reports. Interestingly, Hall found that dream reports from different individuals were more alike than they were different, and this demographic included children, adults, and people who were spread across the entire world. The main differences present in dreams were consistent with the differences that those people experienced in their conscious life as well (such as cultural factors). From this, he proposed that there is a “continuity” between a persons wakefulness and their dream experiences (Hall, 1966).

[|Calvin Hall]


 * Extra information:**

Any survey of modern dream research must include Calvin Hall (1909-1985). Hall was a behavioral psychologist who explored the cognitive dimensions of dreaming. His work began before the discovery of REM sleep, so little was known about the biology of sleep and dreams. Hall drew worldwide attention for his cognitive theory of dreaming, which was among the first scientific theories of dream interpretation based on quantitative analysis… rather than wishful thinking. Dreams Images are the Embodiment of Thought Central to Hall’s cognitive theory is that dreams are thoughts displayed in the mind’s private theater as visual concepts. Like Jung, Hall dismissed the Freudian notion that dreams are trying to cover something up. In his classic work The Meaning of Dreams (1966), Hall writes, “The images of a dream are the concrete embodiments of the dreamer’s thoughts; these images give visual expression to that which is invisible, namely, conceptions.” (p. 95). So dreams reveal the structure of how we envision our lives, a display that is clearly valuable for anyone who remembers and studies their own dreams. [|DreamStudies.Org]