Dreams

1. Which of the following is a true statement about dreams?

• a. We spend eight full hours a night dreaming
• b. Scientists still aren't sure why we dream
• c. Sigmund Freud was the first person ever to write about dreams
• d. There is no technology available to study the dreaming brain

2. Why is there still a scientific debate over the reasons why we dream?

• a. Because the technology to study dreaming brains is still relatively new
• b. Because there is currently little funding of sleep research studies
• c. Because ancient theories about dreams were believed until the early 21st century
• d. Because scientists felt no need to investigate dreams until recently

3. What happens to your eyes during REM sleep?

• a. They focus on a point behind your eyelids
• b. They stay perfectly still
• c. They open and close a lot
• d. They move around a lot

4. How long do periods of REM sleep last?

• a. One minute to ten minutes
• b. One hour to two hours
• c. Ten minutes to an hour
• d. Two hours to four hours

5. What can you conclude from the fact that some of the earliest books in history are dream interpretation guides? Choose the best answer.

• a. That ancient writers correctly figured out the secrets of dreams
• b. That people have been theorizing about dreams for all of human history
• c. That every dream has a logical interpretation
• d. That psychiatrists existed thousands of years ago

6. What is an omen?

• a. Another word for "nightmare"
• b. A type of dream that only lasts a few minutes
• c. A warning about future events
• d. A person's inner spirit

7. What did Sigmund Freud mean when he called dreams the "royal road to the unconscious?"

• a. That dreams offered insight into people's hidden desires
• b. That dreams were caused by stress
• c. That dreams were caused by people's relationships with their parents
• d. That dreams basically made no sense

8. If you lived in the ancient world, what might you believe about dreams?

• a. That your dreams were basically meaningless
• b. That your spirit traveled to a magical dream world at night
• c. That your dreams were spells cast on you
• d. That your dreams expressed your repressed desires

9. According to the activation-synthesis theory, what causes dreams?

• a. Random nerve signals in the sleeping brain
• b. External stimuli during sleep periods
• c. Psychological distress
• d. Memories

10. Francis Crick, one of the discoverers of DNA's structure, theorized that:

• a. Dreams are manifestations of our repressed desires
• b. Dreams suppress neural pathways that would cause our waking minds to hallucinate
• c. Dreams have no function at all
• d. Dreams are a way for the mind to clear out old memories