The Relationship Between Dreams, Emotion, and Memory

Date

4-8-2022

Location

Schewel 207

Description

Despite decades of research, there is a gap in understanding the relationship between the content and emotion of dreams and their later recall. In the waking world, events experienced with an emotion attached are better recalled later than events with no emotional content. This study explored whether dreams associated with greater emotion are recalled better than dreams without strong emotion. Participants completed an internet-based survey of their dreams and associated emotions for a period of one week, and then their recall was tested two weeks later. It was hypothesized that dreams with highly emotional content would be recalled in greater detail two weeks later than dreams with little or no emotional content. Results were not statistically conclusive. They did yield some support that negative emotions are more likely to influence recall over time. There was evidence supporting the hypothesis that emotions felt during a dream might be retained even when the dream content is not. Research gathered from this study aspires to contribute to the limited existing research on dreams, emotions, and dream recall. This study also aims to provide a framework for future research in this subject area to occur. This research contributes to the limited existing research on dreams, emotions, and dream recall and provides a framework for future research in this subject area.

Presentation Type

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The Relationship Between Dreams, Emotion, and Memory

Schewel 207

Despite decades of research, there is a gap in understanding the relationship between the content and emotion of dreams and their later recall. In the waking world, events experienced with an emotion attached are better recalled later than events with no emotional content. This study explored whether dreams associated with greater emotion are recalled better than dreams without strong emotion. Participants completed an internet-based survey of their dreams and associated emotions for a period of one week, and then their recall was tested two weeks later. It was hypothesized that dreams with highly emotional content would be recalled in greater detail two weeks later than dreams with little or no emotional content. Results were not statistically conclusive. They did yield some support that negative emotions are more likely to influence recall over time. There was evidence supporting the hypothesis that emotions felt during a dream might be retained even when the dream content is not. Research gathered from this study aspires to contribute to the limited existing research on dreams, emotions, and dream recall. This study also aims to provide a framework for future research in this subject area to occur. This research contributes to the limited existing research on dreams, emotions, and dream recall and provides a framework for future research in this subject area.