| |
should ideally be recalled, and the extent to which they
would like their dream recall to be under personal
control, as opposed to simply habitual. Also requested
was an estimate of the degree of personal control already
possessed over various aspects of memory for dreams.
Participants were then asked to indicate exactly what
type of improvement in dream recall was needed, and to
note the nature of the evidence they would look for at the
end of the project to determine if that improvement had
actually occurred.
Finally,
a questionnaire entitled, "Identifying Factors
Influencing Dream Recall," contained a checklist of 72
variables known or suspected to have some influence on
dream recall. A person was asked to rate each item
numerically for the degree of influence the person
believed it had on his own dream recall. The purpose of
this checklist was to stimulate observation of the
influences on dream recall during the project and to
provide information concerning the project's effect on
the development of self-awareness and control of dream
recall.
The
completed questionnaires were mailed back to the
A.R.E. in the envelope provided. Duplicate copies of the
questionnaires were kept by the participants for later
comparison at the end of the project.
To
begin the 28-day dream study period, the
participant picked the most convenient day of the week
to be the designated study day. The participant then
began recording dreams six days in advance of the first
study day, so that the study days would fall on the eve of
the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th morning of the project. This
uniform arrangement was requested so we could observe
dream recall fluctuations over a standardized weekly
cycle.
Each
morning of the 28-day period, the "Dream Recall
Tally Sheet," a specially designed chart for recording
and measuring dream recall, was completed. This tally
sheet was designed by a group of dreamers in a prior
experiment to provide a quick, dreamer-oriented method
of record keeping.(4) The rating system was based on
35
|