Freud's Theory & Method of Dream Analysis

The purpose of this research is to examine Freud's theory and method of dream analysis. The plan of the research will be to set forth the principal elements of Freud's dream-related theory, which focuses on the psychology, physiology, and interpretation of dreams, and to discuss such theoretical concepts as manifest and latent content of dreams, the nature of dream work, and the role of unconscious processes in the determination of dream content.

The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud is very much the pioneer psychological work in the matter of why persons dream, what they dream, and what their dreams mean. Dream theory either elaborated or investigated by researchers subsequent to Freud has created a vocabulary unto itself, but it owes much to Freud. At the core of this vocabulary are latent and manifest dream content. Freud differentiates between, then compares and contrasts, these concepts, focusing on the project of interpreting the latent content of the apparently straightforward manifest content (Freud, 1978, p. 45). As the term implies, manifest content means more or less what happens in a dream. Manifest content may be painful, but for Freud, it does not follow that the painful dream "means" what it says. Indeed, the process of dream distortion (images or events in a dream that conceal or stand for hidden meanings that can be interpreted), is such that "wish-fulfillment is the meaning of every dream" (p. 44). Accordingly, the process of interpretation of dream

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., doctor-patient) settings (Rosenzweig, 1997). Beginning with reference to the REM data collected by Aserinsky and Kleitman, Van de Castle describes the range of dream research, particularly dream-lab-conditions research, in the modern period. He reviews studies of the measurement of brain activity in general and brain waves in particular by EEG (Van de Castle [citing Dement, 1957], 1994, p. 501), as well as research into the stages of sleep (Van de Castle [citing Dexter & Weitzman, 1969], 1994, p. 501), and the impact of dream-lab conditions on the reportage of dreams (Van de Castle [citing Whitman, Kramer & Baldridge, 1963], 1994, p. 515). Van de Castle's own view, based on a study done with Hall, is that there is a positive correlation between increased dramatic quality of dreams and reported in a home setting (comparative measurements of the same subjects were taken at a standard laboratory and an "informal" laboratory at Hall's home) and those reported in a formal lab setting (Van de Castle, 1994, pp. 283-4; Hall & Van de Castle, 1966). Some studies show that dreaming, also called the D-state, occurs in specific, successive stages throughout the sleep period, and during these periods dreamers undergo both psychological and

Category: Psychology - F