Dement And Kleitman's Five Stages Of Sleep

Abstract

Everybody dreams and sleeps and the mind plays an important role on this, so by understanding why we dream we thereby understand the psychological nature of dreaming. From understanding dreaming we can then understanding the meaning of these dreams; whether they have no meaning or as Freud (date) believed they show an insight into the deeper desires of the dreamer stemming from the suppressed Id. Although Freud’s theory on dream has recently been discredited by (people) instead indicating that dreams have no deeper meaning and are just brain pulses. It then begs the question of why, as Hall (date) and Hall et al (date) showed a high rate of dreams surrounding everyday life and the majority of dreams are nightmares. However to understand

For this one must understand Dement and Kleitman’s (1959) Stages of Sleep. From these broad topics and questions we can focus in and see specific aspects of sleep and dreaming that also needs questioning, what is a lucid dream, how do you control and dream, what are nightmares and how do they relate to night terrors. The majority of these questions cannot be answered in regards to why but can be researched into regards of why.

Literature Review

In 1959 William Dement and Nathan Kleitman uncovered what they believe to be the 5 stages of sleep, which are still applicable today. These stages are like a similar to a cycle and your body passes through all of them multiple times each night (excluding Stage 1). Stage 1 is when you are beginning to fall asleep and you can drift in and out of sleep. Usually this will only last for around

While modern scientists and psychologists have mostly discredited his research he still holds a heavy influence of the development of psychological research. One of his most famous theories was also applicable and was widely accepted at explaining the phenomena of dreaming. He hypothesised that every person had three things, which dictated your action; the Id, Ego and Superego. The Id represented your innate and primal desires, however for people to function in society they needed this primal desire to be suppressed. This was known as the Ego. It maintained your deepest desires from surfacing allowing you to function. The Superego was a step above your Ego and was your morals and cultural views that you developed from your parents and upbringing. Usually in a normal situations a person would not act on their Id’s desires as they Ego and Superego would be suppressing the majority of these, however Freud hypothesised that during sleep your Id was no longer suppressed which led to your dreams showing you inner desires. Through this Freud believed he could analyze a persons suppressed desires. While in recent years many of Freud’s theories have been discredited, his theories represent a large aspect of early psychological research and