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Dement and Kleitman (1957) REM and dreams . The relation of eye movements during sleep to dream activity: An objective method for the study of dreaming Journal of Experimental Psychology 53 pp339 - 46 . Aim…. Interested in the idea that….
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Dement and Kleitman (1957) REM and dreams The relation of eye movements during sleep to dream activity: An objective method for the study of dreaming Journal of Experimental Psychology 53 pp339 - 46
Aim… • Interested in the idea that…. • …the physical response of REM during sleep was connected to dreaming
The study: starting points • D&K noticed rapid eye movement (REM) ~ apparent connection with dreaming • Previous ~ Aserinsky and Kleitman (1955): Participants report more dream activity in REM sleep • Objectively measure REM sleep by EEG
Research Questions: • Does dream recall correlate to REM? • Is there a correlation between REM duration and estimates of dream length • Is REM connected to content of dreams?
Design • Sleep lab • EEG machine to measure brain activity • Participants: • 9 adults: 7M 2F • 5 studied intensively • 4 minimal data to confirm data on 5
Procedure: • P report to lab before bedtime • asked to eat normally BUT avoid caffeine / alcohol on day of study • 2 electrodes near eye (record muscle activity) • 2 or 3 others record brain activity • electroencephalograph (EEG)
Procedure • woken at various times to test dream recall • bell woke P - they recorded dream recall on tape [why?] • (to avoid experimenter effects) • waking times: • 2 Pp x random; • 1 Pp x at whim of experimenter (!); • 1 Pp x 3xREM + 3xnREM; • 1 Pp x random (told only during REM- but in both)
Procedure 2: • Woken either 5/ 15 mins after entering REM • Asked to estimate duration- 5/15 mins • Relate dream content
Procedure • 'dream' only counted if recall clear • return to sleep <5 mins • 9 P studied over 61 nights: 351 awakenings (av 5.7 per night) • Participants awakened as soon as four predominant pattern of movement had persisted for at least 1 minute • What were they dreaming about??!
Results: 1. REM patterns • all subjects showed REM every night • REM had regular pattern • pattern varied per individual • av gap 90 mins - norm 70-104 mins • duration of REM 3 - 50 mins
Results • results: REM–EEG patterns • REM correlates to EEG patterns • REM EEG - low voltage fast pattern • results: REM–dream reports • reports of dreams correlates strongly to REM sleep • few dreams reported in non-REM sleep