Page 151 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

132 Mysteries of the Mind

rofessor Nathaniel Kleitman (1895–1999), a
University of Chicago physiologist and co-
conductor of the Kleitman-Dement dream
Presearch findings, is known as the father of
modern sleep research. Kleitman said that dreams are
Keeping a
hard to remember because the higher centers of the
brain are deactivated during sleep—or are operating Dream Diary
at a much slower pace than during hours of con-
sciousness.
Sources:
The cerebral cortex is that portion of the brain Faraday, Ann. Dream Power. New York: Berkley Medallion Books
that selects, abstracts, sorts, and memorizes when it Edition, 1973.
is fully activated; but when the rest of the body sleeps, Hall, Calvin S. The Meaning of Dreams. New York: McGraw-Hill
it, too, takes a nap, and that makes the memory of Book, 1953, 1956.
dreams a bit difficult at best. Kramer, Milton, ed. Dream Psychology and the New Biology of
Dreaming. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, 1969.
The memory of dreaming, then, must in some way
Krippner, Stanley. Dreamtime and Dreamwork: Decoding the
awaken the cerebral cortex, on cue, so that individu-
Language of the Night. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher,
als can better remember what they dream. The habit 1990.
of writing a dream down immediately upon awakening Sechrist, Elsie. Dreams—Your Magic Mirror. New York: Dell
will, to a degree, help set the cortex on the alert so it Publishing, 1969.
can go into action on a moment’s notice.

rately recall an event, but forget the source of mation stored by the brain. Procedural memory
the memory. People may remember the details is the facility of recollection that permits one
of a terrible blizzard that their grandparents to learn new skills and retain habits. Episodic
recounted so vividly to them when they were memory is the ability to remember those per-
children that they later incorporate their sonal experiences that define one’s life and
grandparents’ experience as a part of their own individuality.
memories and tell the story to others as if it
had happened to them. Likewise, children see- In addition, scientists recognize field memory,
ing dramatic portrayals of hardships or disasters a process of recollection wherein one, as if in a
in the theaters or on their television screens dream, sees oneself in the scene. Observer memo-
may in their adult years remember those depic- ries are those memories in which the remem-
tions as their own memories of enduring diffi- brance is perceived through one’s own eyes.
cult times. Scientific studies indicate that such Researchers as early as Sigmund Freud
memories of a memory that happened to some- (1856–1939) have theorized that the fact that
one else is common—and suggest that one’s so many memories appear to be field memories
memory of an event is not the most reliable is additional evidence that for many people
record of what actually occurred.
the process of recalling a particular memory
Memory researchers, such as Schacter, list may be largely reconstructive. Freud also is
several types of memory systems. Semantic famous for his theory of memory repression, in
memory reveals conceptual and factual infor- which he asserted that unpleasant memories,

The Gale Enc y clopedia of the Unusu al and Unexplained