Calvin Hall and the Cognitive Theory of Dreaming

Any survey of modern dream research must include Calvin Hall (1909-1985).  Hall was a behavioral psychologist who explored the cognitive dimensions of dreaming.  His work began before the discovery of REM sleep, so little was known about the biology of sleep and dreams.  Hall drew worldwide attention for his cognitive theory of dreaming, which was among the first scientific theories of dream interpretation based on quantitative analysis… rather than wishful thinking.

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Contemporary Dream Theories Starting with Freud

I’ve been brewing this post series for a long time.  Many readers have asked me to review the influential theories of dream formation that are still at work today.   Unfortunately, in our Western culture, where dreaming has long been considered insignificant, advances have been slow due to a lack of funded research. And no one has yet offered a holistic theory of dreaming that accounts for how dreams form in the brain, what they mean, and why human cultures around the world draw significance from them.   Instead, we have many competing theories, all of which look at different aspects of the dreaming world.

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Lucid Dreaming, Religion and Cognitive Science

For my San Francisco Bay area readers, I”m announcing a free public event titled “Lucid Dreaming, Religion, and Cognitive Science” taking place next week at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. I’ll be speaking about the history of lucid dreaming with a focus on religious and scientific applications, and will be joined by two other dream scholars, Kelly Bulkeley, professor of religion studies at the Graduate Theological Union, and Eleanor Rosch, professor of psychology at University of California Berkeley.

If you are interested in hearing about the secret history of lucid dreaming, as well as how ancient lucid dreaming wisdom is cross-pollinating with the latest findings in cognitive psychology, then please join us!

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New Survey for Finding the Meaning of Dreams

Here’s another opportunity to participate in dream research.

Carey Morewedge of Carnegie Mellon University and Michael Norton of Harvard are conducting a short survey on dreams and memory. I took it in less than 10 minutes. The results will be reported in the New York Times, thanks to dream-enthusiast and journalist John Tierney.

Click here to take the survey.

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Lucid Dreamers Wanted for Study on Hypnopompic Hallucinations

Theoretical Physicist Karl Simanonok, PhD is looking for lucid dreamers to join his study on “auditory binding,” which is the hypothetical moment when consciousness “sticks to” the auditory system while waking up out of sleep.

Specifically, potential co-researchers in this study are asked to consciously experience their hypnopompic imagery when moving out of a dream state, and then report which sounds they experience at the threshold moment.

If you”re interested in participating in original lucid dream research and testing your conscious dreaming mettle, click here for Simanonok’s website.

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Dreaming in Black and White

Do we usually dream in black & white” Or is the color in our remembered dreams just hard to remember? This has been a perplexing question for dream scientists for half a century, with most studies not able to report a firm conclusion.

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September’s Moon Dreaming Post

Listen to Miles Davis’s classic Moon Dreams while you read!

Today, the day after the full moon, I looked back into the research on the Moon’s Effect on Dreams done by the College of Metaphysics in Missouri. When I first blogged about their lucid dreaming and moon proposal this past February, I was skeptical because the research program did not seem to have any experimental controls in place.

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The Logos of Dreaming

What is the logic behind dreams? Is dreaming only a pale imitation of our waking abilities, as some say, or does it represent an entirely different ability? This question has forever shadowed the scientific exploration of dreams.

The question can be summed up as: is dreaming a failure of cognition, a breakdown of logic, and otherwise deficient OR is dreaming an accomplishment of cognition, a creative fire that burns bright inside us, the original inspiration behind art, genius, and even religion?

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Angel Dreams? Submit Them Here

Noted dream researcher Robert Van de Castle is collecting dream reports about angels from the public. Angels and other figures composed of light have been making their appearance in Western dreams for several thousand years, yet their dream mythology has scarcely been explored except from a strictly theistic perspective. Van de Castle hopes to change that with his upcoming scholarly book Angels in the Night.

Whether you are a believer or not, it is undeniable that angels have been influential dream figures for millions of people, guiding actions, imparting wisdom, and even playing roles in military campaigns and revolutions. Angels, be them celestial guides or archetypal components of the mind, are a psychological reality.

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Dream Resources

Dream and Sleep Research

Dreaming
Online articles from the premiere Academic journal in contemporary dream research

DreamTime
Online articles from the magazine published by the International Association for the Study of Dreams

DreamGate
One of the oldest authority sites about dreams with tons of articles, advice, and information

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