Time for actions in lucid dreams: effects of task modality, length, and complexity
نویسندگان
چکیده
The relationship between time in dreams and real time has intrigued scientists for centuries. The question if actions in dreams take the same time as in wakefulness can be tested by using lucid dreams where the dreamer is able to mark time intervals with prearranged eye movements that can be objectively identified in EOG recordings. Previous research showed an equivalence of time for counting in lucid dreams and in wakefulness (LaBerge, 1985; Erlacher and Schredl, 2004), but Erlacher and Schredl (2004) found that performing squats required about 40% more time in lucid dreams than in the waking state. To find out if the task modality, the task length, or the task complexity results in prolonged times in lucid dreams, an experiment with three different conditions was conducted. In the first condition, five proficient lucid dreamers spent one to three non-consecutive nights in the sleep laboratory. Participants counted to 10, 20, and 30 in wakefulness and in their lucid dreams. Lucidity and task intervals were time stamped with left-right-left-right eye movements. The same procedure was used for the second condition where eight lucid dreamers had to walk 10, 20, or 30 steps. In the third condition, eight lucid dreamers performed a gymnastics routine, which in the waking state lasted the same time as walking 10 steps. Again, we found that performing a motor task in a lucid dream requires more time than in wakefulness. Longer durations in the dream state were present for all three tasks, but significant differences were found only for the tasks with motor activity (walking and gymnastics). However, no difference was found for relative times (no disproportional time effects) and a more complex motor task did not result in more prolonged times. Longer durations in lucid dreams might be related to the lack of muscular feedback or slower neural processing during REM sleep. Future studies should explore factors that might be associated with prolonged durations.
منابع مشابه
The effects of task complexity on Chinese learners’ language production: A synthesis and meta-analysis
The present meta-analysis was conducted to provide a quantitative measure of the overall effects of task complexity on Chinese EFL learners’ language production. Based on the strict inclusion criteria, 12 primary studies were synthesized according to key features. Eleven of them were meta-analyzed to investigate effects of raising the resource-directing task comple...
متن کاملDifferent Task Complexity Factors and Cognitive Individual Differences: The Effects on EFL Writers’ Performance
This study aimed at examining the main and interaction effects of increased intentional reasoning demands, planning time, and also language learning aptitude on syntactic complexity, accuracy, lexical complexity, and fluency (CALF) of 226 EFL learners’ performance on letter writing tasks. The participants were first randomly assigned to three experimental groups to be given a task with differin...
متن کاملEffectiveness of motor practice in lucid dreams: a comparison with physical and mental practice.
Motor practice in lucid dreams is a form of mental rehearsal where the dreamer can consciously rehearse motor skills in the dream state while being physically asleep. A previous pilot study showed that practice in lucid dreams can improve subsequent performance. This study aimed to replicate those findings with a different task (finger-tapping) and compare the effectiveness of lucid dream pract...
متن کاملThe Effect of Length of Pre-task Planning Time on Discourse-analytic Measures and Analytic Ratings in L2 Written Narratives
The favorable gains gleaned from the provision of pre-task planning time (PTP) have struck a chord with SLA researchers as they try to manipulate task features to promote language production and development. In a similar vein, the present study is a two-fold attempt to first compare the effect of the length of pre-task planning time on discourse-analytic measures in narrative written production...
متن کاملEffects of Task Complexity Increase on Computer-Mediated L2 Writing and Temporal Distribution of Cognitive and Metacognitive Processes
This study examined the effects of cognitive task complexity increase on the complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) as well as the temporal distribution of the cognitive and metacognitive processes involved in computer-mediated L2 written production. To this end, the study employed a between-subjects experimental design with 85 EFL learners from a language learning institute in Iran. Participa...
متن کامل