This book integrates the knowledge on the psychophysiology of the dream state with a scientific approach to dream content interpretation. Everything is presented in a developmental perspective. The book describes and discusses in detail the relation between physiological events and dream images. Examples are the relationship between flying and falling in dream experience and the anti-gravitational paralysis existing in the REM state. Another example is between physiological sexual arousal and erotic imagery in the dream. This book also provides a unique emphasis on changes in dream imagery which occur at different points in the life span. The quality and quantity of dreams varies throughout childhood and certain themes dominate certain periods of life.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: A NORMAL NIGHTS SLEEP
The Sleep Laboratory
A Sleep Cycle
Stage 1—Descending
Stages 2 and 3—Transitional Sleep
Stage 4—Deep Sleep
Stage 1 REM— Dream Sleep
REM Paralysis
P.G.O. Spike
Differences between Deep Sleep and Dream Sleep
Correspondence between Bodily Event and Mental Events

Chapter 2: THE ELEMENTS OF DREAM IMAGERY
Enactments and conventions
Autocentrism and Allocentrism in Imagery
Anonymous versus Recognizable Imagery
REM Paralysis
Somatic Imagery
Stimulus Incorporation
Day Residue
E.S.P. in Dreams

Chapter 3: RECALLING DREAMS
Differences between Good and Poor Recallers
Differences between Remembered and Forgotten Dreams
Improving Dream Recall

Chapter 4: DO DREAMS MEAN ANYTHING?
The Ancient Analytic Approach
The Psychoanalytic Approach
The Encounter Approach
The Behavioral Approach

Chapter 5: THE DREAMS OF CHILDREN
Stage 1—Animalistic Dreams
Stage 2—Egocentric Dreams
Stage 3—Passive-Observer Dreams
Stage 4—Adventure Dreams
Stage 5—Problem-Solving Dreams
Stage 6—Self-Awareness Dreams
Differences between Boys' and Girls' Dreams

Chapter 6: DREAMS OF THE YOUNG
Sexual-Gratification Dreams
Gender-Identity Dreams
Bisexual-Conflict Dreams
Gender-Role Dreams
Separation-Anxiety Dreams

Chapter 7: THE DREAMS OF ADULTS
Consistency in Dreams
Sex Dreams of the Middle-Aged
Triangle Dreams
House Dreams
Performance Anxiety Dreams
Conveyance Dreams
Alter-Ego Dreams
Transcendental Dreams
Dreams of Worth
Food, Drink, and Drugs
Reproductive Dreams

Chapter 8: DREAMS OF DEATH, ILLNESS INJURY AND AGING
Physical Injury and Death Imagery in Dreams
Diagnostic Dreams
Killing Off Friends and Loved Ones
When a Dreamer Dies in a Dream
Bringing Back the Dead
Dreams of Dying
The Breakdown of the Dream Barrier

Chapter 9: DREAMING AND BLINDNESS
Special Effects in the Dream Imagery of the Blind
Loss of Worth Dreams
Dreams in the Rehabilitation of the Blind
Dreams and the Darkness Response
Reversal Dreams in the Blind
The Utility of Dream Imagery in the Perception of the Blind
Persona Dreams
Peripheral-Vision Dreams
In Conclusion

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Professor Raymond E. Rainville received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire. In 1974, he received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, State University of New York Award Committee. He served as Clinical Director of Wareham Area Counseling Services, Inc., Wareham, Massachusetts, 1978-1980. In 1972 he received a Letter of commendation for Innovation in the Teaching of Psychology from the American Psychological Association. Dr. Rainville is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology at State University on New York at Oneonta.