The Committee of Sleep: A Study of Dream Incubation for Problem Solving

Abstract

Subjects incubated dreams addressing problems chosen by the dreamer nightly for one week Approximately half recalled a dream which they judged to be related to their problem; a majority of these believed their dream contained a solution. Problems of a personal nature were much more likely to be viewed as solved than ones of an academic or general objective nature. Independent judges rated slightly fewer dreams as either addressing or solving the problems than did the dreamers, but the trends of their conclusions followed the same patterns as those of the dreamers.

Full text

Dreaming,
Vol.
3,
No.2,
1993
The "Committee
of
Sleep": A Study
of
Dream
Incubation for Problem Solving
Deirdre
Barrett
1,2
Subjects incubated dreams addressing problems chosen
by
the dreamer nightly for one
week Approximately
half
recalled a dream which they judged
to
be related to their
problem; a majority
of
these believed their dream contained a solution. Problems
of
a
personal nature were much more likely to be viewed as solved than ones
of
an academic
or general objective nature. Independent judges rated slightly fewer dreams as either
addressing or solving the problems than did the dreamers, but the trends
of
their
conclusions followed the same patterns
as
those
of
the dreamers.
KEY WORDS: dreaming; problem solving; creativity; dream incubation.
The
French Surrealist poet, St. Paul Boux, would hang a sign
on
his bedroom
door before retiring which read: "Poet at work." (Gumpertz, 1976, p. 161). A similar
belief in nocturnal productivity was expressed
by
John Steinbeck:
"It
is
a common
experience that a problem difficult at night
is
resolved in the morning after the
committee
of
sleep has worked on it." (Running Press, 1988,
p.
88). A shorter ver-
sion
of
this has become the cliche: "Sleep on it!"
None
of
these quotes designate the dream as spokesperson for the committee
of
sleep. However most accounts
of
solving problems
or
producing creative products
during sleep are
of
REM-like dreams
or
hypnogogic imagery. In the most famous
and controversial example, the chemist Kekule reported that his Nobel-prize win-
ning realization
of
the structure
of
the benzene molecule as hexagonal rather than
straight came after dreaming
of
a snake grasping its tail in its mouth (Ramsay and
Rocke, 1984). Mendeleev described dreaming the periodic table of the elements in
its completed form (Kedrov, 1957, pp. 91-113).
The
Nobel-prize winning experiment
demonstrating the chemical transmission of nerve impulses to a frog's heart was
conceived by Otto Loewi in a dream (Dement, 1974,
p.
98).
Inventions as varied as Elias Howe's sewing machine needle--with the hole
at
the pointed end (Kaempffert, 1924,
p.
385) and J.
B.
Parkinson's computer-con-
trolled anti-aircraft gun (Fagen, 1978,
p.
135) have reportedly been conceived in
IHarvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
2Address all correspondence concerning this article to Dr.
Barrett
at
Harvard Medical School, Behavioral
Medicine Program, 1493 Cambridge St., Cambridge,
MA
02139.
115
1053·0797/93/0600·0115$07.00/1 ©
1993
Association for the Study
of
Dreams
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116
Barrett
dreams. William Blake described being told
by
his dead brother in a dream about
a new way
to
engrave his illustrated songs which he found worked well (Diamond,
1963, p. 17). Coleridge (1895) states in the preface to "Kubla Khan" that the poem
appeared complete in an opium-induced dream, and Robert Lewis Stevenson (1925)
dreamed the two key scenes
of
his novel,
Dr.
Jekyll and
Mr.
Hyde. Music pieces
which were heard by their composers in dreams include Tartini's "Devil's Trill"
(Ellis, 1911, p. 286), and Stravinsky's Rite
of
Spring. Scholar Herman Hilprecht re-
ported that he dreamed an Assyrian priest came to him and revealed the accurate
translation
of
the stone
of
Nebuchadnezzar (Van
de
Castle, 1971, p. 1).
In
modern
times, Jack Nicklaus credited a crucial improvement in his golf game to dreaming
of
a new way to grasp his club (Dement, 1974, p. 101).
Dream psychologists and historians take a variety
of
stances toward such an-
ecdotes. Wotiz and Rudofsky (1984) have suggested that Kekule confabulated
or
lied about the snake image long after publishing his benzene paper to conceal his
reliance
on
earlier chemists' work. However, Ramsay and Rocke (1984) have docu-
mented that Kekule described a dream image from his first presentation
of
the
paper, appropriately cited his predecessors, and that much
of
Wotiz and Rudofsky's
argument rested
on
faulty translations of German documents. Blagrove (1992) as-
serts that, on principle, none
of
these anecdotes could
be
accurate.
He
argues that
dreams, by their very nature, cannot even intend to solve a problem, much less do
so: "
...
the place for problem-solving
is
the waking, social world." (p. 24)
Others not only believe such problem solving occurs spontaneously, but also
advocate cultivating it
by
dream incubation
..
(Garfield, 1974; Reed, 1976; Delaney,
1979). Garfield writes: "Once your dream state has provided you with your own
poem,
or
painting,
or
solution to a problem, you know. Ever after you
will
be
able
to seek inspiration and help from your dream state
...
Those who do not 'believe
in' dreams
...
have only nonsensical ones." (p. 199-200)
Several research studies have examined different aspects
of
problem solving
and dreams. Wile (1934) addressed the incubation issue when he measured how
long it took children to self-induce a dream on a desired topic.
The
average time
was 5 weeks; the shortest was 2 weeks, the longest 6 months. Wollmering (1978)
found that in an even shorter period of time, 38%
of
young adult subjects could
learn to alter the outcomes
of
their dreams
in
ways they selected before sleep.
Cartwright (1974) had subjects try to solve three types
of
problems: crossword
puzzles, word association tests, and story completion. Before giving their answers,
they were given either a sleep period that included at least one
REM
interval
or
an equivalent amount
of
waking time. The first two types
of
problems were judged
for correctness, and no differences were found between having sleep-with-
REM
vs.
a waking interval. Story completions were judged for optimistic
vs.
negative ending;
sleep with
REM
produced more negative endings. However the experiment did not
attempt to evaluate the quality
of
stories.
Dement
(1974) gave 500 undergraduate students three "brain-teaser" prob-
lems to read over before going to sleep and to note whether they had solutions in
their dreams that night.
Of
1,148 attempts at solving problems, 87 dreams addressed
the problem without finding a solution. Seven students reported dreams which
solved the problem and a
few
others had dreams which seemed to hint at the so-
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Problem
Solving 117
lution without
the
waking subject catching the hint.
An
example
of
the latter was
dreamed
in response to
the
problem:
"HIJKLMNO:
what
one
word does this se-
quence
represent?"
The
subject reported:
"I
had several dreams all
of
which
had
water
somewhere
...
" and described the water in each dream. However his guess
at
the
solution
to
the
problem was "alphabet"
rather
than
"water"
(=H20).
Morton
Schatzman (1983a, 1983b, 1984, 1986) has
repeated
this experimental
paradigm, giving brain-teasers
to
huge numbers
of
people in England via
the
mass
media.
He
has received dozens
of
examples
of
dreams solving those problems al-
though
he
has no way
of
ascertaining
the
total
number
of
people who may have
been
trying to incubate the solutions. Like Dement, he has observed some dream
examples which seem to contain solutions without the
dreamer
having caught on.
For
the
present
experiment, it was decided
to
explore what subjects would
do
with solving problems
of
their own choice. Although these lack a definitive cri-
teria for quality
of
solutions, they have an immense advantage in terms
of
relevance
and
motivation. They parallel spontaneous, and especially clinical, uses
of
problem
solving much
more
closely
than
do "brain teasers."
METHOD
Seventy-six college students (47 women, 29 men; ages 19-24, modal age =
21) were asked
to
incubate dreams addressing problems as a homework assignment
in a class on dreams. They were instructed to select a problem
of
personal relevance
with recognizable solution(s).
It
could
be
of
a personal, general objective,
or
aca-
demic nature.
They
were asked to write
out
the problem in a simple fashion
and
to
follow the
dream
incubation instructions
of
Dement
(1974). Immediately prior
to
the
first night
of
dream incubation, they had
attended
a lecture summarizing
the
literature
on
problem solving in dreams. This included
the
studies reviewed
above
and
a detailed description
of
the
dream incubation techniques
of
Dement
(1974), Garfield (1974),
Reed
(1976), Delaney (1979), and Schatzman (1983a).
Subjects followed this procedure nightly for one week
or
until they had a
dream
which they felt solved the problem. They recorded all dreams they recalled
during this week
and
noted
which ones they thought: A) were on
the
topic
of
the
problem, including addressing any aspect
of
the problem
or
any attempted solution
of
it
and
B)
of
these, ones they believed contained a satisfactory solution to the
problem.
Two raters
then
judged all dreams in the week's journals
on
criteria A and
B above.
Dreams
deemed
by
both
judges to address
or
solve problems were used
for analysis.
RESULTS
Agreement
between judges ranged from
88
to 100%. Agreement
of
judges
with subjects ranged from
75
to 100%. See Table
1.
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Table
1.
Percentage
Agreement
between Judges and Subjects
on
Ratings
of
Dream
Incubation
Outcomes
Total
Dream
Dream
on
Topic Solution in
Dream
Incubaters
N=
2
Js%=
Js
w/S%=
2
Js%=
Js
w/S%=
Personal
64
96
84
98
88
Objective 8 88 88 100
88
Academic 4 100
75
100 100
Ail
problems
76
97
84
99
88
Approximately half of the subjects recalled a dream which they felt was related
to the problem. Seventy percent
of
these believed their dream contained a solution
to the problem. A majority
of
subjects selected problems
of
a personal nature for
incubation. Virtually all
of
these were either relationship dilemmas
or
educational/vo-
cational decisions. These problems
of
a personal nature were much more likely to
be
viewed as solved
by
the dreamer than ones
of
an academic nature.
The
two objective
problems
of
a medical nature were so much more clearly addressed
in
the dreams
than any
other
type
of
objective problem that they are displayed as a separate sub-
category. See Table
2.
Independent
judges rated slightly fewer dreams as either addressing
or
solving
the problems
than
did the dreamers,
but
the trends
of
their conclusions followed
the
same patterns as those
of
the dreamers. See Table
3.
The
following personal problem example
is
representative
of
those which
judges
and
subjects agreed addressed a problem
and
presented a solution:
Problem:
I
have
applied
to two clinical psychology
programs
and
two in
industrial
psychology because I just can'! decide which field I
want
to go into.
Dream:
A
map
of
the
United
States. I am in a plane flying
over
this map.
The
pilot says we
are
having
engine
trouble
and
need
to land and
we
look for a safe place
on
the
map
indicated by a
light. I ask
about
MA
which we seem 10
be
over
right
then
and
he
says all
of
MA
is very
dangerous.
The
lights seem to be further west. I wake
up
and
realize that my two clinical
schools
are
both
in
MA
where I have spent
my
whole life and
where
my
parents
live.
Both
industrial programs
are
far away, Texas
and
CA.
That
was because originally I was
looking to stay
dose
to
home
and
there
were no good industrial programs nearby. I realize
thai
there
is
a lot wrong with staying
at
horne and that, funny as
it
sounds, getting away
is
probably
more
important
than
which kind
of
program I go to.
Personal
Objective
(medical)
(other)
Academic
All
problems
Table
2. Subjects' Ratings
of
Dream
Incubation
Outcomes
Total
Dream Dream
on
Incubaters Topic
N=
%=
64
48
8 63
(2) (100)
(6) (50)
4 25
76
49
Solution in
Dream
%=
36
38
(50)
(17)
o
34
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Problem Solving 119
Table 3. Judges' Ratings
of
Dream Incubation Outcomes
Total Dream Dream on Solution in
Incubaters Topic Dream
N=
%=
%=
Personal
64
50
28
Objective 8 50
38
(medical) (2) (100) (100)
(other) (6) (33) (17)
Academic 4
50
0
All problems
76
51
25
A few dreams were much more literal depictions
of
problems and their so-
lutions as the following example agreed upon
by
judges and subjects:
Problem: I'm accepted
at
a medical school that
is
asking that I pay $500 to secure
my
place by a date before my top three medical schools
will
have answered. Dream:
It
was
winter and I was getting rejections from everywhere, so I decided I should pay the $500.
The dreams rated by subjects
but
not
by
judges as addressing and solving
problems were usually more metaphoric as in the following examples:
Problem: I'm trying to decide whether to be on the softball team again this spring. I love
it, but practice does take time away from
my
studies. I could just go to watch the games
this year and still see my friends from the team. Dream: I'm I'm camping in an open
place in a tent that doesn't come
all
the
way
to the ground. People
are
all around staring
at me. I feel very uncomfortable and exposed. Solution:
The
dream reminded me
of
the
phrase
"a
watcher
rather
than a doer" which has very negative connotations for me. I
don't think I'd be happy with just going to the games.
The
only two medical problems resulted
in
dreams viewed as both addressing
and solving those problems by judges. The first one was viewed as presenting a
solution by the subject also. The second one constituted the only time the judges
viewed a dream as presenting a plausible solution while the subject viewed
it
as
only presenting the problem:
Problem: I've been having major problems with
my
menstrual cycle and
my
doctor can't
figure
out
what
is
wrong. Dream:
my
doctor told me I was having a reaction from being
on
a diet and exercising more than I ever have.
In
the dream,
my
doctor gave me medicine
to correct this and I would be fine if I took this medicine. In waking life, he did ask about
diet and I didn't tell him how much I'm dieting; he's never asked about exercise. I guess
I should tell him about the diet and exercise, huh?
Problem: Whether I had taken
my
medicine. I'm supposed to take just
one
of
these pills
a day; it's bad if I take more than one
or
miss one. I couldn't remember this day if I had
taken it
and
I was really worried. Dream: I
was
drinking water and swallowing pills over
and over, it just went
on
with me drinking and taking pills for a long time.
The only non-medical objective problem that was judged to be solved was the
following:
Problem: I recently moved from one apartment to a smaller one. Every
way
I try to arrange
my
bedroom furniture in the new room looks crowded. I've been trying to decide if there
is
a better
way
or
if I have to get rid
of
something. Dream: I come home and all the
boxes are unpacked and the pictures hung. Everything looks real nice.
The
little chest
of
drawers
is
in the living room up against a wall like a sideboard
and
it blends right in
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120
Barrett
there. I'm puzzled because I didn't remember doing this. I can't figure out if I moved the
chest and unpacked
or
if someone else has, but I like
it.
Awake: The chest actually
fit
there real well when I tried
it,
so I left
it
there.
DISCUSSION
Subjects in this study were unusually interested in dreams and had been ex-
posed to some problem-solving success stories. Obviously they are unrepresentative
of
the general population and therefore one would not expect this study to typify
what happens by way
of
spontaneous problem solving in dreams. However, these
subjects' characteristics and preparation make them highly comparable to clients
of
therapists who use these techniques and to readership
of
self-help books which
advocate such techniques.
The
results
of
the present study would lead one to expect that about half
of
such therapy clients or self-help practitioners would experience themselves as in-
fluencing their dream content toward a specified problem and about a third
of
them would report a solution appearing
in
a dream. These are similar to conclusions
of
earlier studies (Wile, 1934; Wollmering, 1978).
The
types
of
problems viewed as solved
in
the present study are consistent
with dream anecdotes which feature personal problems much more so than aca-
demic ones. Personal problems are the ones to which most psychotherapists apply
dream incubation techniques (Garfield, 1974; Reed, 1976; Delaney, 1979.)
Another
category which looks strong in this study, but
is
far too small to generalize from
is
that
of
medical problems. Again there are many anecdotes about such problems
(Garfield, 1991) and some preliminary research to suggest the body can sense
(Smith, 1990), and even present solutions (Kasatkin, 1967) to health problems.
Although this study was not set up to rigorously evaluate the quality
of
the
solutions, many
of
them appear to be ones
of
which the dreamers were not already
consciously aware. The solutions seem to be
in
line with the subjects' waking abili-
ties.
The
dreams help when dreamers are stuck in their waking decisions but do
not represent dramatically different intellectual faculties. This
is
consistent with the
anecdotal literature: it
is
known composers who dream great music, established writ-
ers who dream classic poetry, and top scientists who have Nobel material arrive in
their dreams.
Dream
novelty
is
optimal in open-ended problems without known solutions
such as the furniture arranging example quoted above. Problems framed as a di-
chotomous choice between two already conceived solutions obviously have a
better
chance
of
the dream "offering" a solution but less likelihood
of
novelty. However,
some dreams on dichotomous problems did offer novel solutions as in the example
of
choosing between two types
of
graduate programs being reframed into the issue
of
their locations
vis
a
vis
separation from family and home.
Other
dichotomous
problems were answered with dreams that favored one choice over another. Some
of
these afforded their dreamers a sense
of
resolution. Here the "solution" aspect
lay in emotional release from one side
of
their ambivalence rather than from nov-
elty.
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Problem Solving 121
There are potential dangers in automatically taking a dream as the "right an-
swer" in making decisions. Class lectures and reading had emphasized dream solutions
only as material to examine from a waking perspective. However, this experiment
occurred
at
a religious college and several of the responses indicated a firm conviction
that dreams came from God and that therefore, a dreamed solution should definitely
be
followed. That dreams on dichotomous problems could occur arbitrarily
on
either
side
of
the ambivalence was illustrated best
by
the following example:
Problem: My boyfriend plans to join the army full-time after graduation (he's
in
the
reserves right now).
He
has asked
me
to marry him and wants me to
go
with him wherever
he
is
assigned. I
don't
know if I want to be an army wife. I am very scared and confused
about what to do. Dreams:
The
first night I was incubating this problem. I
dreamed
we
were with his
mother
and
her
seven foster children. We were happy and holding hands.
The
second night I incubated it, I
dreamed
we were at
the
country club where I work
having
our
wedding reception. Everyone was laughing and dancing, just having a good
time.
He
had
a tux
on
and I had a wedding gown on and I was very much in love with
him. I thought
that
was a solution. Several nights later after I had stopped incubating
the
problem, I dreamed we were about to get married and I was begging the people that were
with me
not
to make
me
do it. I kept saying "Please
don't
make me do
it!
I
don't
want
to marry him! PLEASE!" I
remember
feeling very frightened and very alone. I felt like
if I married him
my
life would end.
Although
we
have thus far been referring to dreams as "solving problems," one
of the more interesting qualities
of
these dreams
is
that they appear more to be pre-
senting to the dream ego a solution which has been arrived at
by
the start of the
dream. One does not see the problem being struggled with except
in
a
few
of the
examples judged to be addressing
but
not solving the problem. Sometimes the dream
ego gets the point late
in
the dreams as
in
the example of the clinical
vs.
industrial
graduate school map; however some other agency
in
the dream (in this case the pilot)
seems to have prepared the solution
in
advance. In the furniture arranging example,
the dream ego arrives home to find the solution that has already happened. This
is
consistent with previous examples cited
by
Dement (1972) and Schatzman (1983a,
1983b, 1984, 1986). Some of their longer examples of objective logical solutions being
presented begin with subtle hints building toward more obvious ones until the dream
ego "gets it."
Perhaps the "committee of sleep" may have workers outside of
REM
and the
"spokesperson" role of the dream may be more than a metaphor. Even more
likely,
given what
is
known about cortical activation, the problem may get solved
by
some
part of the waking mind and communicated to consciousness only
in
the dream state.
In summary, there remain many questions about the mechanism of problem
solving in dreams and about the quality
of
these solutions compared with waking
ones. It
is
clear, however, that dream-interested persons incubating problems can often
dream what they feel to be solutions
of
which they are not consciously aware and
that such dreams can provide them considerable personal satisfaction.
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122
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