Tests of Structural Hypotheses in Free Recall of Bizarre and Common Dream Reports: Implications for Sleep Research

Abstract

Interpretation of research investigating the content of dreams within the context of sleep studies is complicated by memory-related factors. The present study offers a controlled experiment using wakeful participants to test two main hypotheses that have implications for sleep studies: 1) that the bizarre content of dream reports is more memorable than the common content and 2) that dream structure influences dream recall. Regarding the latter hypothesis, the memorability of three different types of dream reports (Discontinuous, Improbable Combinations, and Improbable Identities) was tested. The results indicated that bizarre content was recalled better than common content across all dream types. Although the three dream types did not differ in terms of correct recall, there was more misplacement in the recall of bizarre than common target content for Discontinuous dream reports only. Implications of the results for the interpretation of sleep studies investigating dream content is discussed.