- Summarize three theories presented in your textbook on why we dream (p.102). There’s not much information there so you will probably have to do some research.
Freud’s wish fulfillment- According to this theory, one of the reasons we dream is due to unconscious desires. This explains why in a dreaming state, we tend to have pleasant dreams but also have nightmares. While most people do not wish to have a night terror, it usually has an underlying wish for something else which creates fear within the mind. This is what leads to night terrors (Myers).
Cognitive Development- This theory states that dreams stem from previous knowledge. This also allows our brain to create predictions of the future based on said knowledge. This includes worst-case scenarios (Myers).
Information Processing– This theory explains that another reason we dream is to process past events. It also serves as a concrete way to store memories. This also relates back to Cognitive Development because this uses the stored information to make future predictions (Myers).
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- Then briefly describe a recent dream you have had (if you cannot recall any recent dreams of your own, ask a friend or family member or make one up).
Recently, I had a dream where I was a character in an anime and I was dating a character from an anime called My Hero Academia. The character’s name was Todoroki and is also who I have been cosplaying for the past few days of class. He has red and white hair with a burn mark on his left eye. I will leave it at that.
- Using two of the theories described above, explain/elaborate why you think you might have had this dream.
I believe the Wish Fulfillment theory and the Neural Activation theory play a role in this situation. The Neural Activation theory can be used in this scenario because I had watched this anime before I fell asleep. I believe that after I had watched the episode, my brain filed away this visual and made this visual active in my dream which weaved the character into my dream. The Wish Fulfillment theory because I believe the reason I dreamt of this specific character is that I can relate to his past. Not with the lonely childhood but instead feeling lonely and wishing for a connection with someone like he does. That is how I believe the theories relate.
