Activation Synthesis

The relationship between dreaming and repression is complex and requires thorough understanding of Freud’s theory thus it is better to get to know some of the terms and concepts Freud raises in study of dreams. As all the information is gathered, it is believed that the wish as fulfilled is shown only in a state of repression during sleep.

It is Freud’s skillful application of resistance and censorship that grants further contemplation of why dreams are so soon to fade and be forgotten upon awakening. It is also this application that guides the reader into how these two processes may require one to use free association to interpret such dreams. Resistance and censorship are explained by Freud as a cognitive process that happens due to the separation of waking and sleeping states. He presents the idea that while one sleeps, the cognitive censorship used throughout waking hours is significantly reduced, making dreams possible. However, immediately present upon awakening is mental resistance, resulting in the “forgetting” or “fragmenting” of

Both Freud and Jung provided important and interesting theories on dreams; encompassing their functions, their roots, and their meanings. Freud looked at dreams as a result of repressed memories, particularly repressed sexual memories from our childhood. Jung however, believed that dreams delved beyond sexual repression during younger years, to other problems, be it trauma, anxiety etc. Jung also believed dreams changed predominately through middle adult years, while Freud believed the opposite. There is little empirical evidence to reinforce either Freud or Jung’s theories, however, their contributions to the study of dreams in psychology cannot be lessened or denied.

Freud also listed the following results from his studies, dreams can have multiple layers of meaning, nearly all dreams are wish-fulfilling, and all dreams have a unifying motive that accounts for all random images and events. Freud concluded that dreams are the way an individual 's unconscious mind tries to express itself and that dreams “may only have a chance of reaching our consciousness if they are somewhat disguised”. Which explains the sometimes absurd and bizarre dreams that someone can get. Sigmund Freud uses the following analogy to explain his theory, “a political writer may criticize a ruler, but in doing so may endanger himself. The writer therefore has to fear the ruler’s censorship, and in doing so “moderates and distorts the expression of his opinion”. The writer serves to represent the unconscious mind, while the ruler is the conscious mind that stops an individual from doing certain things. Dreams and daydreams are practically synonymous, except dreams occur when an individual sleeps, and daydreams are when the person is awake, but both allow for the mind to wander, so the theory can apply to both, but Freud mainly focuses on the aspects of dreams.

Sigmund Freud, the inventor of psychoanalysis, once said that “most dreams are a sort of way for the unconscious mind to express its desire” (Freud). Sigmund Freud thought as dreams to be an idea that people strive for in life or the answer to a problem. He also concluded that dreams are “the fulfilment of a wish” (Freud). Freud thought as a dream to be something that people desire in life, or want to conquer in life. To him, dreams were something that could fulfill one’s life. However, Freud also noticed “punishment dreams and anxiety dreams” (Freud). Instead of these dreams doing something good for a person, they could be doing the opposite. Overall, one belief is that dreams can complete peoples lives, or deteriorate lives.

According to Hobsin and McCarly, dreams are the result of biochemical and physiological response of the body to chemicals fired by neurons that are arising from the brainstem. This two personalities experimented on cats- which based on research has the similar brain waves and movement similar to humans when asleep. They concluded that dreams are the product of brain cell activation but it does not create any movement in a person's body. Furthermore, they believed that dreams are chemical responses to the brain's activity. The example the lecture cited is when a person is trying to escape in her dream, there will be a message from the brain for the body to start running but there will be no leg movement. This model is called the Activation Synthesis

Freud’s theory is that dreaming is meaningful, unlike the activation synthesis theory. He believed that the mind had three sections, represented in a shape of an iceberg; the conscious, the subconscious and the unconscious. The conscious is the tip of the iceberg above the water involves everything we are aware of right now such as our thoughts. The

The second explanation for this dream based on the activation synthesis theory, is that the dream I had was just a by-product of neural activation. Since most people can describe their senses within a dream and remember the dream during waking hours it suggests to me that when I had this dream about my high school crush I was able to develop emotions and sensations during the dream much like other people and remember what happened in the dream after it occurred. When I think about how it relates to neural activity within the brain, I think about the limbic system, hippocampus, and amygdala, I think these structures could be a possible explanation for neural activity. Since the limbic system is primarily responsible for emotions, hippocampus

Countless of psychologists studied dreams when they conducted research to come up with their own theories on the meaning of an individual’s dream due to the misconception on why people dream and what they mean. One of the psychologists that formed their own theories on dreams was Sigmund Freud. He gathered that dreams were unconscious desires contained in REM sleep “Freud believed that dreams were essentially a form of wish-fulfillment” (Cherry). By extension, dreams represent unconscious wishes or thoughts of individuals, they are meant to play out hidden desires that people have. Sigmund Freud came up with many meanings that dreams serve, for instance, he concluded that dreams were a guide to an individual’s self-discovery (Dreams). However, Carl Jung, who was a Swiss psychiatrist, thought that dreams gave people a different perspective on life; dreams presented a problem to the individual and then provided options to solve the issue (Dreams). To put it in another way, when people sleep and go to the dream state, they are presented problems that they will face; the dream will then offer ways to solve the conflicts. Once, an issue was in the past, it follows, and then another problem will appear, as well as a different solution in the dream. In fact, the reason why people dream, according to Jung, is that dreams are to meant to help and

In his book, Modern Man In Search Of A Soul, C.G. Jung gives a layperson insight into his ideas on dream analysis. Jung's primary objective in this book is to educate the reader as to what a psychoanalyst does when analyzing a patient's dreams. The principal message in the section of the book centered on dream analysis is that dreams should never stand alone. Dreams are meaningless in a vacuum, but on the other hand when put against a strict set of rules, they are oftentimes misunderstood. The unconscious is a fluid entity and cannot be handled either in isolation or with a static set of guidelines. Dreams are reflections of the unconscious and can represent many different things inside of

I have chosen an original psychology classic based on Sigmund Freud. The title of my review is “The Interpretation of Dreams”. This book was written to find out why do we actually dream and what does it mean in our psychological lives. In Freud’s view, dream is viewed as wish fulfilment. It is known as the satisfaction of a desire through an involuntary process. Therefore it can occur in dreams or daydreams in the symptoms or neurosis or hallucination of psychosis. It requires interpretation to recognize this satisfaction.

They can be reveal our inner motivations and hopes, help us face our fears, encourage growing awareness and even be a source of creativity and insight” (qtd. in Puri and Treasaden 150). Freud, the founder of psycho-analysis and Jung, developer of analytical psychology discuss about the function of dream in human life (Anderson 1). Jung and Freud discuss about function of dream, however, Jung also highlight more details about “dream as constituting a symbolic guide to present and future conduct” (Glover 105). On the other hand, Freud argues that dream is a way to preserve sleep (Domhoff “Purpose”). Jung also said that “the function of dreams is to compensate for those parts of the psyche (total personality) that are underdeveloped in waking life” (Domhoff “Purpose”). Springett argues that the purpose of dream which propose by Jung and Freud are less scientific because the idea of rapid eye movement has not

Sigmund Freud is well known for his interest in the human mind. In Freud’s novel The Interpretation of Dreams, published in 1913, explores the deeper meaning behind everyday life. His book explores various meanings of common types of dreams, theories on how dreams relate to everyday life, and two types of dreams: wish fulfilment dreams and distortion dreams. These types of dreams are simply put good dreams vs nightmares. Sigmund Freud believed dreams were caused by a person’s experiences in waking life, fears, wishes, their unconscious and consciousness. Sigmund Freud compared the

Freud asserted that one aspect of manifest content could come to represent a number of latent elements (and vice versa) through a process called condensation. Manifest dream-content is the dream as we recall it and it is a heavily abridged version of latent-thoughts. Latent dream-thoughts are the basis of the dream, the hidden meaning of it. Likewise, each element of the dream is over determined by multiple ideas from the dream-thought. Instead, ideas are condensed under one single element, therefore producing a dream which is much smaller than the dream-thought.

Defences are gradually dismantled and a new, more functional, view of the world is established. This is a painful and frightening process. This function of the dream is more in line with Jung's view of dreams as "compensatory". The previous three functions are "complementary" and, therefore, Freudian.