Dement and Kleitman 4

Dement & Kleitman 

Aim: Demonstrate relationship between eye movement and dreaming

3 Research Questions:

1. Are the dreams more often during REM sleep than during non-REM sleep?

2. Would subjective estimates of dream length correlate with length of REM?

3. Is there a relationship between dream content and eye movement?

Participants 

• 7 adult males + 2 females
• 5 particpiants studied intensively
• data collected from other 4 to confirm these results from original 5

Method 

• Lab
• Participants reported just before their normal bedtime, they refrained from drinking alcohol or cofee
• Electrodes attatched from EEG machine to particpants scalp
• Partcipants woken at various times, by a bell sound and had to speak into a voice recorder
• State whether they were dreaming, if so what was the content of their dream

Results

• Research question 1:

•  Research question 2:

Research Question 3:

• Particpants asked to describe contents of dream  after participants after particular eye movement obersved; simplified from original question

Strength

• high levels of control over extraneous variables
• EEG and EOG provide precise scientific measurements = objective
• Caue and effect
• Quantitative + Qualitative 
• Tape recorder = more accurate readings 

Weaknesses

• low ecologicla validity 
• Small sample

Uses

helps in relation to sleep disorder, such as: insomnia