Dement and Kleitman (1957)
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==Aims==- to see if there was a relationship between REM sleep and dreams,
To see if there was a relationship between pattern of eye movement and dreams content,
See if there was a relationship between length of eye movement and duration of dreams.
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[[Method/Procedure[[
Lab study
Participants arrive shortly before bedtime
no alcohol or caffeine
EOG attached around eyes to measure eye movement
Awoken various times during the night with a bell. They were not told what stage of sleep they were in.
Told to state whether they were dreaming or not, what the dream was about and guess if the dream was 5 or 15 mins.
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[[Results[[
All participants experienced rem sleep
in non rem, dream recall was 7%]
in rem sleep it was 80%
eye movement did link to dream content- vertical eye movement was climbing up a ladder and horizontal was throwing apples
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| }}Strengths of Dement & Kleitman}} | ]]Weaknesses of Dement & Kleitman]] |
|---|---|
| Confidential- participants referred to by their initials | Not a fair portion of people- only 9 participants which is not diverse enough to represent the human population |
| everyone avoided the same substances- alcohol and caffeine- so no sleep was disturbed or changed by them | Disproportionate genders- only two females and 7 males. Results more accurate towards males than females |
| experiment conducted in a labratory. Means researchers could control all variables they thought would be best. | ecological setting may have been difficult or changed sleep. Having machines attached to them and being in a lab may change participants sleep and dreams. |
\ [[Past Paper questions[[
(i) Describe Dement & Kleitmanās (1957) study. In your answer, you must include:
ā¢ aim(s)
ā¢ method/procedure
ā¢ results. (4)
(ii) Explain one strength of this study. (4)
\ (i) The aim of Dement and Kleitman 1957 was to find the relationship between dreams and REM sleep and the relation between eye movement and dream content. The participants would arrive at the lab shortly before their usual bed time and were told not to have any alcohol or caffeine. Participants were awoken during the night with a bell and asked: if they were dreaming, how long their dream was between 5-15 mins and what was happening in their dream. The results: Eye movement and dream content did relate, for example vertical eye movement and a dream about climbing a ladder. Dream recall in REM sleep was 80% and 7% in non-REM sleep.
\ (ii) One strength of Dement and Kleitman 1957 was that it was confidential. Participants were referred to by their initials rather than their names.