Reliability in Dream Research: A Methodological Note

Authors: Schredl M.¹; Funkhouser A.T.²; Cornu C.M.²; Hirsbrunner H-P.²; Bahro M.²

Source: Consciousness and Cognition, Volume 10, Number 4, December 2001 , pp. 496-502(7)

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Abstract:

The coefficients of internal consistency and retest reliability had been rarely investigated within the methodology of dream content analysis. Analyzing a dream series of elderly, healthy persons obtained from weekly telephone interviews, the internal consistency of a series of 20 dreams and retests after 4 or 22 weeks, respectively, had been computed. The findings indicate that dream recall and dream length are quite stable, but dream characteristics such as bizarreness and emotional tone underlie large intraindividual fluctuations. In order to obtain reliable measures for these variables which will be important for correlational studies, including waking-life trait measures, one has to obtain as many dreams as possible (about 20) in a very short time period. Further research is needed to extend the present findings to diary dreams and laboratory dreams. Copyright 2001 Elsevier Science (USA).

Keywords: Key Words: dream recall frequency; dream content; reliability; stability

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, 68072, Germany 2: Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, University Hospital of Clinical Psychiatry, Berne, Switzerland

Publication date: 2001-12-01