Nia reports dreaming that she is making tea in an allotment shed. The teacups turn into tiny boats and sail across the floor, and she feels amused.
A researcher scores Nia's dream report and a report of one of her waking fantasies for bizarreness density.
| Report | Bizarreness density score |
|---|---|
| Nia's dream | 0.39 |
| Nia's waking fantasy | 0.18 |
Suppose that during a later REM period, random activity spreads through Nia's brain as usual but none of it reaches her amygdala.
Using Activation Synthesis Theory, explain how her dream would compare with the one she reported.
Using the data, explain how the comparison between Nia's reports supports Activation Synthesis Theory.
81 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Psychology 6.2 Theories/Explanations: The Nature of Dreaming, covering 6.2.1 Freudian dreaming: unconscious and repression, 6.2.2 Freudian dreaming: wish fulfilment and dream content; criticisms, 6.2.3 Freudian Theory research study: Freud (1918), 6.2.4 Activation Synthesis: REM sleep and the brain, 6.2.5 Activation Synthesis: pons, cortex and synthesis; criticisms, and 6.2.6 Activation Synthesis research study: Williams et al. (1992). Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.