THE MARY & JORDAN SLEEP

STUDY
BASED ON THE DEMENT AND KLEITMAN CASE STUDY
 VOCABULARY
REM – RAPID EYE MOVEMENTS

REM SLEEP – STAGE OF SLEEP IN WHICH THE EYES MOVE RAPIDLY UNDER THE LIDS.

nREM SLEEP – THE STAGES OF SLEEP IN WHICH OUR EYES ARE STILL.

ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPH (EEG) – MACHINE USED TO DETECT RECORD BRAIN

ACTIVITY. IT PRODUCES A CHART , AN ENCEPHALOGRAM THAT SHOES HOW BRAIN
WAVES VARY OVER TIME.
IT CAN ALSO BE USED TO DETECT ACTIVITY IN THE MUSCLES MOVING THE EYES.

ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY – THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE FINDINGS OF RESEARCH IN ONE

SITUATION WOULD GENERALISE TO OTHER SITUATIONS.
DEMENT AND KLEITMAN
CASE STUDY (1957)
AIMS DOES DREAM RECALL DIFFER
BETWEEN REM AND N-REM SLEEP?

IS THERE A POSITIVE CORRELATION

BETWEEN SUBJECTIVE ESTIMATES OF
DREAM DURATION AND THE LENGTH
OF THE REM PERIOD BEFORE
WAKING?

ARE EYE MOVEMENT PATTERNS

RELATED TO DREAM CONTENT?
THIS STUDY EXPLORED THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN EYE MOVEMENTS DURING SLEEP
AND DREAM RECALL.

THEY USED AN EEG TO PROVIDE INFORMATION

ABOUT THE 9 PARTICIPANTS’ SLEEP STAGES,
AND ABOUT EYE MOVEMENTS.

AND THEY USED SELF REPORTS TO MEASURE

DREAM RECALL.
THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT DREAMS
OCCURRED IN REM SLEEP AND NOT N-REM
SLEEP, AND THAT THE DIRECTION AND
AMOUNT OF EYE MOVEMENTS DURING DREAM
SLEEP IS RELATED TO DREAM CONTENTAND
THAT ESTIMATES OF DREAM DURATION ARE
GENERALLY ACCURATE.
THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT DREAMS
OCCURRED IN REM SLEEP AND NOT N-REM
SLEEP, AND THAT THE DIRECTION AND
AMOUNT OF EYE MOVEMENTS DURING DREAM
SLEEP IS RELATED TO DREAM CONTENT.

THE RESULTS ALSO SHOWED THAT ESTIMATES

OF DREAM DURATION ARE GENERALLY
ACCURATE.
MANY VARIABLES WERE CONTROLLED AND DEMAND
CHARACTERISTICS WERE REDUCED WHEREVER POSSIBLE.

HOWEVER, THE LABORATORY AND THE EQUIPMENT MEANT

THAT THE SITUATION WAS UNUSUAL FOR SLEEPING.

BUT THE FACT THAT THE EXPERIMENT WAS CONDUCTED IN

A LAB MADE IT EASIER FOR THE EEG TO BE USED, AND THE
DATA COLLECTED FROM THE EEG, EYE MOVEMENTS AND
TIMING ALLOWED FOR VALID AND RELIABLE
COMPARISONS TO BE MADE .
THE PROMISE AND
BOMERA SLEEP STUDY
(2019)
 TO ESTABLISH WHETHER ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, SUCH AS
SOUND, AND SURROUNDINGS HAVE AN EFFECT ON SLEEP AND
AIM DREAM CONTENT

SURROUNDINGS (WHERE THE PARTICIPANT IS SLEEPING) CAN

INFLUENCE THE NATURE OF A PERSON’S DREAMS IN REM SLEEP.

SOUNDS, PARTICULARLY MUSIC HAVE AN EFFECT ON DREAMING

HYPOTHESES (PARTICULARLY THE GENRE OF MUSIC)

DIRECTION OF EYE MOVEMENT PATTERNS IS RELATED TO DREAM

CONTENT

DURATION OF REM SLEEP CORRELATES WITH LENGTH OF DREAM

INVOLUNTARY BODY MOVEMENTS ARE RELATED TO DREAM

CONTENT
VARIABLES BEING TESTED
 DEPENDENT
INDEPENDENT VARIABLES
SOUND
VARIABLE ->
OPERATIONALISATION OF ‘SOUND’ NATURE OF DREAMS
MUSIC & NATURE SOUNDS (CONTROL)
IN REM SLEEP
OPERATIONALISATION OF ‘MUSIC’
CLASSICAL MUSIC
GOSPEL MUSIC
RAP MUSIC
ROCK MUSIC

NO SOUND (CONTROL)

SLEEPING CONDITIONS -> HIS ROOM

-> SCHOOL SICK BAY
TYPE OF EXPERIMENT
NATURAL LABORATORY EXPERIMENT WITH REPEATED MEASURE DESIGN

SAMPLE
1 PARTICIPANT, JORDAN

SLEEPING CONDITIONS
STAGE 1 -> JORDAN’S BEDROOM
STAGE 2 -> SICK BAY AT SCHOOL

PRECAUTIONS
PARTICIPANT TOOK NO ALCOHOL OR CAFFEINE-CONTAINING DRINKS BEFORE
THE EXPERIMENT.
BECAUSE EXPERIMENT WAS NOT DONE AT NIGHT, BUT DURING THE DAY,
PARTICIPANT SLEPT ONLY 1 HOUR THE NIGHT BEFORE.
 PROCEDURE AND RESULTS-> STAGE 1
THE PARTICIPANT WENT TO SLEEP LISTENING TO THE FIRST IV, CLASSICAL MUSIC. THE MUSIC WAS PLAYED FROM THE
EXPERIMENTER’S LAPTOP THE ENTIRE TIME HE WAS ASLEEP. BUT INSTEAD OF SLEEPING FOR 1HR 40 MINUTES BEFORE
BEING WOKEN UP, PARTICIPANT UNEXPECTEDLY WOKE UP 1 HR AND 25 MINUTES AFTER FALLING ASLEEP. NO NOTABLE BODY
OR EYE MOVEMENTS WERE OBSERVED AS PARTICIPANT SLEPT.

WHEN ASKED IF HE HAD DREAMED, PARTICIPANT REPLIED THAT HE HAD, AND PROCEEDED TO DESCRIBE HIS DREAM.
PARTICIPANT RECALLED BEING IN A ‘FANCY’, HIGH-END SCHOOL, WHERE IT SEEMED THAT CLASSICAL MUSIC WOULD BE THE
NORM. PARTICIPANT COULD NOT RECALL ANY OTHER SPECIFIC CONTENT.

PARTICIPANT WENT BACK TO SLEEP WITH GOSPEL MUSIC PLAYING, THIS TIME THE EXPERIMENTER CHECKED FOR EYE
MOVEMENTS EVERY 5 MINUTES DURING nREM SLEEP, AND EVERY 2 MINUTES DURING REM SLEEP, BUT AGAIN, NO NOTABLE
BODY OR EYE MOVEMENTS WERE OBSERVED.

PARTICIPANT WAS WOKEN 1HR AND 22 MINUTES LATER, AND WAS ASKED IF HE HAD DREAMED, THE PARTICIPANT REPLIED
NO AT FIRST, BUT, SHORTLY AFTER, THEY RECALLED FLYING IN THE SKY, AND FALLING TO THE GROUND AT THE SAME
MOMENT THEY WERE WOKEN UP. PARTICIPANT HAD BEEN WOKEN UP AFTER A PERIOD OF 5 MINUTES, AND WHEN ASKED
HOW LONG THE DREAM WAS, 5 OR 15 MINUTES, HE REPLIED 10 MINUTES.

HOWEVER, AFTER THIS, PARTICIPANT SAID HE FELT ‘FULLY CHARGED’ AND COULD NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP, SO EXPERIMENTER
WAS UNABLE TO RESUME THE EXPERIMENT.
CONCLUSIONS
ALTHOUGH THE DREAMS DID CONTAIN SOME INFLUENCE
FROM THE MUSIC PARTICIPANT LISTENED TO, IT DOESN’T
FULLY SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESIS THAT SOUNDS HAVE AN
EFFECT ON DREAMING. THE EVIDENCE TO PROVE OR
DISMISS THE HYPOTHESES THAT SURROUDNINGS CAN
INFLUENCE THE NATURE OF A PERSON’S DREAMS IN REM
SLEEP AND THAT THE DURATION OF REM SLEEP
CORRELATES WITH LENGTH OF THE DREAM, BECAUSE
EXPERIMENT WAS NOT COMPLETED. THE HYPOTHESIS THAT
INVOLUNTARY BODY MOVEMENTS ARE RELATED TO DREAM
CONTENT ALSO DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH EVIDENCE FOR IT TO
BE PROVED OR DISPROVED.
STRENGTHS
- Ethical, as participant had given informed consent and
there was no deception involved.

- Experiment had some ecological validity, because it

was conducted in participants’ own home.

- Independent variables clearly defined

WEAKNESSES
- We didn’t examine the physiological effects of the music on the participant, which may have helped
us gauge what effect the physical state had on the mind’s state

- We were unable to finish the experiment, and data gathered was insufficient to address all the hypotheses.

- Results were affected by demand characteristics, because experimenter was present in the room when participant
- recounted dream.

- Experimenter bias, though it did not affect results, was present.

- Experimenter limited, in that they did not have an EEG, and so could not properly monitor eye movements and had to rely
- on sight alone

- Experimenter should have consistently checked for eye movements, instead of just on the 2nd IV.

- Ethical, as participant had given informed consent and there was no deception involved.

- Experiment was done during the day and not at the participant’s normal bed time, which reduces ecological validity.

- Small sample size, which also affects generalisability of the results to the public

- Did not start with control condition that was a normal sleeping environment.
 MODIFICATIONS TO IMPROVE FUTURE
RESEARCH
INCREASE THE SAMPLE SIZE, TO IMPROVE THE VALIDITY OF THE RESEARCH, AND TO IMPROVE GENERALISABILITY.
- PARTICIPANTS SHOULD ALL NOT BE USED TO SLEEPING WITH MUSIC, SO AS TO INCREASE RELIABILITY OF THE FINDINGS,
AND TO REDUCE EFFECTS OF PARTICIPANT VARIABLES.

IF POSSIBLE, SAMPLE SHOULD BE COMPRISED OF PEOPLE THE EXPERIMENTER DOESN’T KNOW. IF NOT POSSIBLE, THE
EXPERIMENTER SHOULD NOT HAVE CONTACT WITH PARTICIPANTS AT ALL, ANY QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ASKED SHOULD
BE ASKED BY ANOTHER EXPERIMENTER WHO IS NOT FAMILIAR WITH ANY OF THE PARTICIPANTS.

EXPERIMENT SHOULD BE DONE USING AN EEG TO PROVIDE A MORE ACCURATE RECORD OF EYE MOVEMENTS AND BRAIN
ACTIVITY, AND TO FURTHER IMPROVE THE RELIABILITY OF THE RESULTS.

INCLUDE SELF REPORTS IN THE EXPERIMENT, TO FIND OUR THE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS THE MUSIC HAS ON THE
PARTICIPANTS.

EXPERIMENTER SHOULD START WITH THE CONTROL CONDITION, TO BE ABLE TO COMPARE THE RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENT
WITH THOSE OF A NORMAL SLEEPING ENVIRONMENT.

EXPERIMENT SHOULD BE DONE AT PARTICIPANTS’ NORMAL BED TIME, SO AS TO IMPROVE ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY.

A SUFFICIENTLY LOUD BELL SHOULD BE USED TO WAKE UP PARTICIPANTS BECAUSE IT’S EASIER AND MORE EFFECTIVE THAN
SHAKING THEM AWAKE

COLLECT SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO ADDRESS ALL THE HYPOTHESES.

THANK YOU!