Wakefulness And Dreaming: Unusual Events And Their Cognitive Processing During Waking And Dreaming

Subjective reports have supported the assumption that dream sleep and waking manifest differences that correlate with the neurobiological bases of the 2 conscious states. These differences should appear in the quality and quantity of cognition and reasoning. Using the affirmative probe method, we compared quantity, recognition and consequences (logic reasoning) of unusual events (bizarre, unreal, irrational, and not possible in reality) during dreaming and waking. In 2 studies, students created dream and waking reports, and indicated unusual events and their cognitive processing. While dreaming, significantly more unusual events occurred than while waking. During waking, almost all unusual events were recognized as such, whereas while dreaming only 21% of unusual events were identified. Thoughts about the logical (in) consistency of the events were significantly fewer while dreaming than while waking, but, if the situation elicited logical reasoning, consequential behavior was initiated equally often. Our results, therefore, support the notion of qualitatively different states of consciousness during dreaming and waking.