Dement and Kleitman- Psychology notes

Evaluation Question + most stats

Dement and Kleitman used the biological approach to investigate dreaming in an objective way by
looking for relationships between eye movements in sleep and the dreamer’s recall.

Dement and Kleitman conducted a laboratory experiment with standardised procedures such as the
doorbell sound to wake up participants, where the participants would sleep, and when they would
arrive. This ensured high replicability so that researchers can easily test for reliability of the study. This
increases the validity of the findings. Moreover, the laboratory setting gave researchers a high level of
control over all the variables, so all participants experience the same conditions- the EEG monitoring and
not allowing them to have caffeine or alcohol before the study. This was so the researchers could be
confident about the causal relationship in each of the 3 experimental conditions. (Strength) However,
due to the artificial and unusual environment of sleeping in a lab with electrodes attached to the head,
the study may lack ecological validity and this could reduce the overall validity of the findings.
Additionally, the study lacks mundane realism as the task of being woken up and asked to estimate how
long one has been dreaming for does not occur in everyday life. This could further reduce the ecological
validity. (Weakness)

The study used a repeated measures design, so the participants took part in all three levels of the IV.
(The estimation of dream duration 5/15 mins, the differences between REM and non-REM by reporting
dream content, and the eye movement pattern correlation with dream content) This effectively
accounts for individual differences such as participant variables (eg-some people may be brief while
describing their dream while others may give more detail), which may have otherwise affected the
results. This increases the validity of the findings by eliminating any confounding variables. (Strength)

The study is said to be reductionist as the findings are all based around only the biological mechanisms
affecting our dreaming state (the brain activation when entering REM or non-REM). The researchers
have not taken into account our psychological/mental mechanisms that could be affecting the
participants, eg-How tired the participants were/ any mental exhaustion or problems they had faced.
This could reduce the validity of the results, as the causal relationship is now unclear. (sp. weakness)

Since only nine adults were used in the study, with only five being studied in detail and four being used
to verify the findings, this small sample may not be very representative of how the target population
dream patterns are. This could reduce the generalisability of the study and decrease the validity of the
findings. Moreover, only two of the participants were female, so the sample is more representative of
males dream patterns. In addition, since children were not used, the sample is not at all representative
of the younger population and their dreaming patterns. (Weakness)

The participants’ personal details remained confidential because the researchers used only initials in the
published report and maintained privacy. (Small strength) However, their psychological state of
wellbeing was not taken into account as they were sleeping in unusual conditions and were woken up at
odd timings, so they left in a different psychological state and were not protected from any harm/ effect
to their sleep cycle or concentration the next day. (Weakness)
Sample Questions Answers. P1

 What is an EEG
- The Electroencephalograph is a machine, which detects and records electrical charges
associated with nerve and muscle activity. It produces a chart of brainwaves showing the
amplitude and frequency of the REM and nREM waves. Using these, we can identify that
REM sleep is low voltage, high amplitude and nREM sleep is high voltage, low amplitude. It
can also be used to record eye-movements, their size and direction. In Dement and
Kleitman’s research, the EEG had running paper at 3 or 6mm per second and sometimes 3cm
per second. (detail)

 Aim of the study?

- 1. To test differences in dream recall between REM and non-REM sleep
- 2. To investigate whether there is a positive correlation between subjective estimates of dream
duration and length of REM
- 3. To test whether eye movement patterns are related to dream content.

 Results from study (numbers are exp number 1 2 or 3)

- 1.Waking pattern did not affect recall

- 1.Participants reported dreams more often- woken from REM (152/191) than nREM (11/160)
- 2. 88% accurate for estimating 5 mins, 78% accurate for 15 mins
- 2.Participants were more accurate at guessing shorter dream durations
- 3. 35 awakenings were conducted (for eye movement pattern exp)
- Dreams in 3: Climbing ladder, looking up and down
- Throwing basketball in a hoop, looking up and then looking down to pick up a ball
- Driving, looking left at hailing passenger
- Two people throwing tomatoes at each other from a distance

 Conclusion from study

- Dreams probably occur only during REM sleep
- Dreams are experienced in real time and not in an instant as it is popularly believed
- Eye movement patterns correspond to dream content

 What was done/ standard procedures

- Ate normally / no caffeine alcohol

- Arrived at normal bedtime
- Taken to a dull quiet room
- Electrodes fitted, Gathered into ponytail
- Woken by doorbell
- Asked if dreamt/no dream
- If yes described dream into voice recorder
- Researcher sometimes entered to monitor/ ask questions
 Comparison with other studies

 -Biological Psychology
 Dement and Kleitman and Scachter singer
Differences – Sample size, further leading to difference in generalisability, and
representativeness of target population. Give the sample size as an example.

Similarities – - Laboratory experiment, standardised procedure, high level of control, reliability,

replication, example from each study. Lack of mundane realism in both can also be included

 Cognitive Psychology
 Dement and Kleitman and Laney et Al
Similarities--. Also same lab experiment/ artificial setting/ mundane realism/ high control/
standardisation and examples

Differences- Independent grp vs repeated measures/ participant variables/ order effects/ true
aim of the study.

 -Learning approach
 Dement and Kleitman and Saavedra and Silverman
Similarities— Small sample size / less representative of population/ lower generalisability/ low
validity/ opportunity sampling

Differences—Quantitative data/ objectivity/ ability to conduct statistical analysis

 -Social Approach
 Dement and Kleitman and Pilavin et Al
Similarities— Observational study/ it had to have inter rater reliability/ collected qualitative and
quantitative data in both eg+

Differences—Sampling technique and Generalisability, due to bigger/smaller sample size,

causing better/worse representativeness of target population, different/similar backgrounds of
population, more/less validity of findings (with ex)
 Nature vs Nurture

Nature Nurture

- It is believed that the experience of REM However there were individual differences between
and non-REM is universal is due to nature participants dream duration patterns and this could
- EG- all participants in the study experienced be as a response to the environment as they may
both forms of sleep, and all of them could have had a disturbed sleep due to the laboratory
recollect dreams more during REM environment. This shows that environmental factors
can also affect sleeping patterns

Application to everyday life: Since it is now possible to identify when exactly a

person enters the REM or non-REM stage using an EEG, this technique could be
used by health professionals to identify and treat any atypical sleeping patterns in
patients.