Chapter 2    Freud: Psychoanalysis61
fei75766_ch02_019-071.indd 61  02/19/20 08:59 AMestablished thatpeople ingeneral varyfrom 200msto800msinhowlongastimulus 
needs tobepresent before being consciously perceived. Thestudy byShevrin etal.
(2002) included sixclinical participants between theagesof51and70,allofwhom 
years prior hadundergone surgical treatment formotoric problems (mainly parkin -
sonism). During these surgeries, aprocedure hadbeen performed inwhich electrodes 
stimulated parts ofthemotor cortex, andthelength oftimeittookforthestimulus 
tobeconsciously perceived wasrecorded. Theresults ofthisprocedure showed that
these sixparticipants alsoranged from 200msto800msinhowlongtheytookto
consciously perceive thestimulus. Forthis,fourpsychological testswereadminis -
tered atthepatients’ homes andthenscored ontheirdegree ofrepressive tendencies. 
These testsweretheRorschach Inkblot Test, theEarly Memories Test, theVocabu -
laryTestoftheWAIS (anIQtest), andtheHysteroid-Obsessoid Questionnaire. The
firstthree testswererated bythree “blind” clinical judges ontheirdegree ofrepres -
sion, andthefourth testwasscored objectively foritsdegree ofrepression.
Theresults showed thatthecombined ratings from thethree judges weresignif -
icantly andpositively associated withthetimeittookforastimulus tobeconsciously 
perceived. Moreover, theobjectively scored Hysteroid-Obsessoid Questionnaire con-
firmed theresult. Inother words, themore repressive stylepeople have, thelonger 
ittakes them toconsciously perceive astimulus. Neither agenorIQisrelated tothe
length oftimeittakes forthestimulus tobeperceived. Astheauthors acknowledge, 
thisfinding isbutafirststepindemonstrating howrepression might operate tokeep
things outofconscious awareness, butitisthefirststudy toreport theneurophysi -
ological underpinnings ofrepression.
Research on Dreams
Inthe1950s, when thephenomenon ofrapid eyemovement (REM) sleep wasfirst
discovered andfound tobestrongly associated withdreaming, many scientists began 
todiscount Freud’s theory ofdreams, which wasbased ontheideathatdreams have
meaning andareattempts atfulfilling unconscious wishes (e.g., Hobson, 2013). 
Moreover, theREM research showed thatonlybrain-stem regions andnothigher 
cortical regions wereinvolved withREM states. Ifthese cortical structures werenot
involved inREM sleep andyettheywerewhere higher levelthinking tookplace, 
thendreams aresimply random mental activities andcould nothaveanyinherent 
meaning. From theperspective ofthisso-called activation-synthesis theory, meaning 
iswhat thewaking mind gives tothese more orlessrandom brain activities, butmean -
ingisnotinherent inthedream (Hobson &McCarley, 1977).
Solms’s primary research areaisdreams and,based oncurrent dream research, 
including hisown, hetakes issue witheachoftheassumptions oftheactivation- 
synthesis theory ofdreams (Solms, 2000, 2004). Most importantly, Solms argued 
thatdreaming andREM arenotoneandthesame. First, inabout 5%to30%ofthe
wakings during REM sleep, patients report nodreams, andduring about 5%to10%of
non-REM wakings patients doreport dreaming. Sothere isnoone-to-one correspon -
dence between REM anddreaming. Second, lesions (duetoinjury orsurgery) inthe
brain stem donotcompletely eliminate dreaming, whereas lesions intheforebrain 
regions (inthefrontal lobes andparietal- temporal-occipital juncture) haveeliminated 
dreaming andyetpreserved REM sleep.Final PDF to printer