Dement and Klietman et al.

• Psychometrics used in the study include EEG (electroencephalogram) which traces cyclical changes that occur in brain activity during sleep, and EOG (electrooculogram) which traces eye movements during sleep.
• REM (Rapid Eye Movement) is when dreaming occurs, and NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) is the other stage of sleep.
• The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between eye movements and dreaming.
• The study had three aims: to investigate if there is a significant association between REM sleep and dreaming, to investigate if there is a positive correlation between estimated dream duration and REM period length, and to investigate if eye movements are related to the dream content.
• The study used a laboratory experiment with different methods to test each aim.
• Approach 1 was a natural experiment with a repeated measures design.
• Approach 2 was a true experiment using correlational study with a repeated measures design.
• Approach 3 was a natural experiment with a repeated measures design.
• The study recruited 7 males and 2 females through opportunity sampling.
• Participants reported to the lab before their personal bedtime and were asked to avoid caffeine and alcohol on the day of the study.
• Participants slept in a dark, quiet room.
• All participants were woken up when an eye movement pattern lasted for at least a minute.
• Participants returned to sleep in less than 5 minutes.
• Participants were woken up at various times to test their dream recall during REM and NREM stages of sleep.
• The dream narrative was recorded on a tape recorder and participants were asked if they had a dream or not and if they did, they recorded it.
• Participants were woken up after either 5 or 15 minutes into their REM sleep and they guessed the duration they had dreamt for.
• Participants’ eye movement direction was detected with the EOG and they reported their dream.
• All subjects showed REM every night with an average REM length of 20 minutes and a range of 3 - 50 minutes.
• The average time gap between different dreams was 92 minutes.
• Accurate estimation of REM duration: 88% for 5 mins; 78% for 15 minutes.
• Dreams occur during REM sleep only.
• Eye movements correspond to where, and what the dreamer is looking at in the dream so, they are not random events.
• Dream content relates to our experience, so it is a product of nurture.
• Those reported from NREM are from previous REM episodes.
• 152 dream narratives were collected, but 26 were omitted, thus, there were 126 left.
• Estimated dream duration and REM period lengths are very similar, thus, dreams aren’t instantaneous events but are rather experienced in real-time.
• Sample size is too small, hence limiting generalisability.
• The ability to dream is a product of nature.
• High validity because details focused on dreaming; dream definition was operationalised; and participants were asked to choose between 5 or 15 minutes.
• Lacks ecological validity as people who usually take alcohol & caffeine may experience atypical dreams.
• Those woken in NREM returned to NREM.
• Deception of participant WD can cause distress as they'd try recalling dreams harder.
• Reliability is high as it was a lab experiment.
• Those woken in REM went usually to NREM to complete the last stage of their dream.
• Percentage of dream recall after REM stage: 79.6%.
• Waking participants under 8 minutes of completing their REM period resulted in 5/17 dreams being recalled.
• Quantitative data collected with an EEG and EOG: brain waves, eye movement patterns, and REM sleep duration.
• Demand characteristics were avoided as participants were not told if they were in REM or not.
• Qualitative data collected - the dream content.
• Percentage of dream recall after NREM stage: 7%.