While most people can recall their dreams at least a few times, there is a significant minority of people who claim to never dream, and who include some difficulty understanding what everyone else is saying. Laboratory experiments comparing dreamers with non-dreamers have shown that there is little difference between these groups with regard to EEG/EOG sleep patterns (Antrobus et al., 1964; Goodenough et al., 1959). In all cases, the order of sleep is the same, with REM sleep periods recurring for about 90 minutes. at minute intervals throughout the night. Non-dreamers, however, tend to spend slightly less time in REM sleep than dreamers. Is their crime in dreams dreaming about waking up in the middle of the morning not really dreaming or just not remembering to do it?
To address this question, Goodenough et al. (1959) recorded 60 subjects on the frequency with which they remembered dreaming. Then they persuaded eight of the highest criminals, who dreamed every night, and eight of the lowest scorpions, who dreamed less than once a month, to undergo laboratory tables and night vigils. When awakened from REM sleep, the dreamers reported their dreams nearly every time (44 of 49), and they reported dreams about half the time when they were awakened from non-REM sleep. The non-dreamers reported awakening less than half of the times during REM sleep (19 out of 42), and only seven out of 43 waking hours from non-REM sleep. REM sleep is thus more clearly associated with dreams in so-called “non-dreamers” than in regular dreamers, who usually report dreaming every time they are awakened!
Experiments have also shown that people report waking dreams from REM dreams, lingering until after the end of waking up. the REM sleep phase produces a dramatic drop in the number of dreams remembered. Even while sleeping we tend to forget our dreams as soon as they are. People who don’t usually dream when awakened from REM sleep do report dreams, but they are particularly prone to forgetting them – if awakened after the REM period is over, they recall even fewer examples of dreaming than they say. always recall dreams in the morning (Antrobus et al., 1964).
The Goodenough study described above generally has supported findings, and it was also noticed that non-dreamers were able to report that they were already awake and thinking when awakened from REM sleep (Goodenough et al., 1959). When the reports of what they had thought were examined, it was found that they were often prodigious, varied stories interwoven with visual images, and, as far as the experimenters were concerned, indistinguishable from dream reports. Therefore, they can have similar experiences as dreaming, but their REM dreams do not refer to experiences as ‘dreams’, but as ‘thinking’. It seems that while everyone dreams in REM sleep, most dreams give way to forgetfulness and some people forget more easily than others.
