IV : the sleep stage the participant was woken in. REM or nREM sleep
DV : the extent to which the dreams were recalled
AIM
★ Does dream recall differ between REM and nREM stages of sleep??
★ Is there a positive correlation between subjective estimates of dream duration and the
length of the REM period before waking ??
★ Are eye movement patterns related to the content of the dream content??
HYPOTHESES
1. Dream recall will differ between REM and nREM stages of sleep
2. There will be a positive correlation between subjective estimates of dream duration and
the length of the REM period before awakening
3. Eye movement patterns will be related to dream content
BACKGROUND STUDIES
➔ Electroencephalograph- [EEG] records electrical activity in nerve and muscle cells. It
uses macroelectrodes.
➔ Chart formed by EEG - encephalogram
➔ EEG used to detect movements in eye muscles - ElectroOculoGram [EOG]
RESEARCH METHOD : Laboratory Experiment
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN : Repeated measures design
SAMPLE
➔ 9 participants
➔ 7 male and 2 female
◆ 5 studied in detail
◆ 4 used to confirm results of the first 5
➔ Volunteer sampling
, ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
❖ CONFIDENTIALITY- no one’s names were revealed when displaying results. 2 letters
were used for each person
❖ RIGHT TO WITHDRAW
❖ DEBRIEFING
❖ PROTECTION FROM DAMAGE [both physical and psychological]
➔ People managing the EEG were highly trained
➔ Measures were taken such that no damage occurs during the experiment.
➔ If somehow the experiment causes psychological distress or uncomfort, it is their
duty to bring them back to their original state
ETHICAL ISSUES
❖ DECEPTION
❖ PRIVACY
PROCEDURE
❖ Control of variables [Standardisation]
➢ Normal diet everyday excluding caffeine and alcohol.
➢ Arrival of participants- before their personal bedtime
➢ The wires from the head were gathered into one ponytail for easy comfortable
movement in sleep
➢ The EEG electrodes were attached in the same places of the head for every
person.
➢ They went to sleep in a dark quiet room
➢ Doorbell was used to wake them. It was loud enough to wake anyone from any
kind of sleep stage.
RESULTS
It was found that in uninterrupted dream stages:
➔ Lasted from 3 to 50 min
➔ Were typically longer later in the night
➔ Showed intermittent bursts of around 2-100 rapid eye movements