Visual imagery and dream recall

Research in dream recall frequency has failed to isolate psychological variables which clearly and reliably differentiate frequent dream recallers from infrequent recallers. The present study tested the hypothesis that frequent recallers have a greater capacity for visual imagery than infrequent recallers. Subjects selected on the basis of reported dream recall frequency were administered a Paired-Associate Learning task designed to measure visual imagery, a rating scale of imagery clarity and vividness, and a subjective measure of imagery controllability. The results provide support for the hypothesis and, together with other evidence, suggest that a generalized capacity for visualization may contribute to the quality of the dreaming experience and, consequently, to its recallability.     

Cognitive antecedents of dream recall

222 students completed the Cognitive Processes Survey which assessed imaginal life, orientation toward imaginal life, and defensiveness. Subjects were separated according to number of weekly dreams recalled and tested for short-term memory with the Digit Span of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Analyses of variance showed that imaginal life differed significantly across low, average, and high dream recallers. Orientation toward imaginal life was significant for high dream recallers but not for low recallers. A t test for correlated Digit Span raw scores indicated significant differences between low and high dream recallers. Differences in dream recall seemed better explained by cognitive variables such as short-term memory than attitudinal factors such as defensiveness. Dream recall might be enhanced by increasing the channel capacity of short-term memory and increasing imaginal life through activities such as introspection, daydreaming, and meditation.     

Traits attributed to stuttering and nonstuttering children by their mothers

Traits attributed to 34 stuttering and 34 nonstuttering male children by their mothers using an adjective checklist were studied. Mothers of school-aged male stutterers were found to perceive their children as being more insecure, sensitive, anxious, withdrawn, fearful, and introverted than did mothers of nonstutterers. It was concluded that although research has not demonstrated a characteristic stuttering personality, stutterers continue to be perceived as having characteristic personality patterns.     

Attributional biases in aggressive children and their mothers

To investigate if mothers and their aggressive children share the tendency to infer hostile motives from others' behavior in ambiguous social situations, 100 pairs of mothers and their clinic-referred or comparison children (50 boys and 50 girls) were asked to interpret hypothetical situations involving both overtly and relationally provocative scenarios. Results replicated previous findings of studies on social information processing of aggressive children and extended the findings to mothers of aggressive children. Findings were generally consistent with the hypothesis that mothers of aggressive children tend to view others' ambiguous actions as hostile, increasing the probability of responding with aggression and, in effect, modeling a hostile attributional bias for their children. Examinations of mothers' and their children's attributional and behavioral intentions suggested that mothers' and daughters' attributions and behavioral intentions were significantly correlated, whereas mothers' and sons' were not. Gender effects with regard to provocation type are also discussed.     

Altered states of consciousness, dissociation, and dream recall

In a sample of 71 medical students, dream recall frequency was positively correlated with proneness to altered states of consciousness (r = .26) measured by the State of Mind and Consciousness Questionnaire and dissociation (r = .29) measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale II. A regression analysis, however, yielded neither altered states of consciousness nor dissociation, sex, or age to be significant predictors of dream recall frequency. Among women dream recall frequency was associated with proneness to dissociation; among men it was correlated with proneness to altered states of consciousness.     

Affective interactions of depressed and nondepressed mothers and their children

The expressed affect of clinically depressed and nondepressed mothers as measured by the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia: Lifetime Version (SADSL) and their children (1 1/2 to 3 1/2 years) was observed in seminatural situations. The objectives were to investigate how maternal depression enters into affective interactions between mother and child and how the affect patterns of mother and child are related. Fortynine unipolar and 24 bipolar depressed mothers and 45 nondepressed mothers were observed on 2 days, 2 weeks apart, for a total of 5 h. Each minute was coded for the predominant affect of mother and child. Affects relevant to depression (anxioussad, irritableangry, downcast, pleasant, tenderaffectionate) were coded. Depressed mothers expressed significantly more negative affect than did control mothers. Mothers' expressed affect and their selfreports of affect on days of observation were unrelated. Mother's and child's affects, measured on different days, were significantly correlated. Unipolar mothers and mothers severely depressed spent significantly more time in prolonged bouts of negative affect. There was significant synchrony between their bouts and the negative bouts of their daughters. Gender of child was related to mother's and child's affect, and to relations between mother's and child's affect.     

Affective exchanges between young autistic children and their mothers

This study examined autistic children's social behavior, affect, and use of gaze during naturalistic interactions with their mothers. Sixteen autistic children, 30 to 70 months of age, and 16 normal children, matched on receptive language, participated. Children and their mothers were videotaped during three situations: a free-play period, a more structured period during which communicative demand was made on the child, and a face-to-face interaction. In all three situations, autistic and normal children did not differ in the frequency or duration of gaze at mother's face. In the one condition (face-to-face interaction) during which affective expressions were coded, autistic and normal children also were not found to differ significantly in the frequency or duration of smiles displayed, and neither group displayed frowns. However, autistic children were much less likely than normal children to combine their smiles with eye contact in a single act that conveyed communicative intent. Autistic and normal children were not found to differ in the percentages of smiles they displayed to social versus nonsocial events. However, when autistic children's responses to mother's smiles specifically were examined, it was found that they were much less likely to smile in response to mother's smiles than were normal children. Finally, it was found that mothers o f autistic children displayed fewer smiles and were less likely to smile in response to their children's smiles, when compared with mothers o f normal children. These findings suggest that the autistic child's unusual affective behavior may negatively affect the behavior of others.We wish to thank the children and their mothers who participated in this study, and the staff at Division TEACCH at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for their help in recruiting children for the study. Harriet Reingold generously allowed us to videotape the children in her infant observation laboratory at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Cathy Lord provided videotapes of some of the autistic children and their mothers. Mary Evers assisted in data collection. Kerry Hogan assisted in the coding of data; her help is gratefully acknowledged. The study was supported by a grant from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.