Comparing and Contrasting Psychological Theories of Dreaming
Everyone dreams at night, but why do we dream? There are many theories and
interpretation of why are we dreaming. We usually dream at our REM sleep which is
the period of Rapid Eye Movement. But we do dream at NREM sleep as well, Non
Rapid Eye Movement. Our brain will still be functioning while we were asleep. The
common psychological theories of dream are from Sigmund Freud¡¦s ¡§Wish
Fulfillment¡¨ and Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley¡¦s ¡§Activation-synthesis¡¨.
Sigmund Freud¡¦s dream theory is mainly stating that we dream because we need to
accomplish our wish by dreaming. Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley¡¦s dream
theory is saying that we dream because dreaming is random activities that will occur
while we are sleeping. They both have their own interpretation, but after my research
I can say that Sigmund Freud¡¦s ¡§Wish Fulfillment¡¨ is valid and reliable.
Sigmund Freud was the father of psychoanalysis, a major school of psychology.
His theories of sexuality are being the center of psychopathology and the major drive
of all individual developments. His dream interpretation has made him the most
controversial yet influential in the twentieth century. Freud believed that we dream
because there are some wishes hidden in our unconscious mind which need to be
fulfilled. Dreams are symbolic and contain information about our unconscious mind.
We can not achieve our desires in the real world so we need to fulfill it through
Why do we dream? 3
dreaming. Our stress from our daily life can be released while dreaming. During the
night while we were asleep, our mind protects us by manufacturing dreams. Dreams
can prevent us from being disturbed by external stimuli like noise, temperature,
light...etc and even internal stimuli like emotions, fears, desires, previous day's
activity¡Ketc. When we become tired of receiving and responding to stimuli from the
environment around us we try to
interpretation of why are we dreaming. We usually dream at our REM sleep which is
the period of Rapid Eye Movement. But we do dream at NREM sleep as well, Non
Rapid Eye Movement. Our brain will still be functioning while we were asleep. The
common psychological theories of dream are from Sigmund Freud¡¦s ¡§Wish
Fulfillment¡¨ and Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley¡¦s ¡§Activation-synthesis¡¨.
Sigmund Freud¡¦s dream theory is mainly stating that we dream because we need to
accomplish our wish by dreaming. Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley¡¦s dream
theory is saying that we dream because dreaming is random activities that will occur
while we are sleeping. They both have their own interpretation, but after my research
I can say that Sigmund Freud¡¦s ¡§Wish Fulfillment¡¨ is valid and reliable.
Sigmund Freud was the father of psychoanalysis, a major school of psychology.
His theories of sexuality are being the center of psychopathology and the major drive
of all individual developments. His dream interpretation has made him the most
controversial yet influential in the twentieth century. Freud believed that we dream
because there are some wishes hidden in our unconscious mind which need to be
fulfilled. Dreams are symbolic and contain information about our unconscious mind.
We can not achieve our desires in the real world so we need to fulfill it through
Why do we dream? 3
dreaming. Our stress from our daily life can be released while dreaming. During the
night while we were asleep, our mind protects us by manufacturing dreams. Dreams
can prevent us from being disturbed by external stimuli like noise, temperature,
light...etc and even internal stimuli like emotions, fears, desires, previous day's
activity¡Ketc. When we become tired of receiving and responding to stimuli from the
environment around us we try to