DREAM SPLICING - A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR ASSESSING THEMATIC COHERENCE IN SUBJECTIVE REPORTS OF MENTAL ACTIVITY

A novel ''dream splicing'' technique allows the objective evaluation o f thematic coherence in dreams. In this study, dream reports were cut into segments and segments randomly recombined to form spliced reports . Judges then attempted to distinguish spliced reports from intact one s. Five judges correctly scored 22 spliced and intact reports 82% of t he time (p < .0001); 13 of the 22 reports were correctly scored by all five judges (p < .05 for each). We conclude that most dream reports c ontain sufficient coherence to allow judges to distinguish intact from spliced reports. In contrast, abridged reports, which had all but the ir first and last five lines removed, were correctly identified in onl y 10 of 38 reports, suggesting that thematic continuity does not norma lly extend from the beginning to the end of dreams. The continuity ide ntified in this minority of the reports depended on easily identifiabl e features, such as specific characters, objects, locations, and emoti ons, rather than on ''latent'' themes. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.