The prevalence of typical dream themes challenges the specificity of the threat simulation theory
Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (6):940-941 (2000)
| Abstract | The evolutionary theory of threat simulation during dreaming indicates that themes appropriate to ancestral survival concerns (threats) should be disproportionately represented in dreams. Our studies of typical dream themes in students and sleep-disordered patients indicate that threatening dreams involving chase and pursuit are indeed among the three most prevalent themes, thus supporting Revonsuo's theory. However, many of the most prevalent themes are of positive, not negative, events (e.g., sex, flying) and of current, not ancestral, threat scenarios (e.g., schoolwork). Moreover, many clearly ancestral themes (e.g., snakes, earthquakes) are not prevalent at all in dreams. Thus, these findings challenge the specificity of the threat simulation theory. [Revonsuo]. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | No categories specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,865 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesLawrence J. Wichlinski (2000). The Pharmacology of Threatening Dreams. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (6):1016-1017.
Antti Revonsuo (2000). Did Ancestral Humans Dream for Their Lives? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (6):1063-1082.
Keith Gunderson (2000). The Dramaturgy of Dreams in Pleistocene Minds and Our Own. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (6):946-947.
Rainer Schonhammer (2005). 'Typical Dreams' Reflections of Arousal. Journal of Consciousness Studies 12 (s 4-5):18-37.
Linda Mealey (2000). The Illusory Function of Dreams: Another Example of Cognitive Bias. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (6):971-972.
Antti Revonsuo (2000). The Reinterpretation of Dreams: An Evolutionary Hypothesis of the Function of Dreaming. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (6):877-901.
Todd K. Shackelford & Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford (2000). Threat Simulation, Dreams, and Domain-Specificity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (6):1004-1004.
Sophie Desjardins & Antonio Zadra (2006). Is the Threat Simulation Theory Threatened by Recurrent Dreams? Consciousness and Cognition 15 (2):470-474.
Antonio Zadra, Sophie Desjardins & Éric Marcotte (2006). Evolutionary Function of Dreams: A Test of the Threat Simulation Theory in Recurrent Dreams. Consciousness and Cognition 15 (2):450-463.
J. A. Cheyne (2000). Play, Dreams, and Simulation. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (6):918-919.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads34 ( #35,950 of 556,788 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #64,847 of 556,788 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
