Tyler Sample’s research while affiliated with MacEwan University and other places

p>In response to the discussion between Hobson and Shredl the history of our program of research for coding dreams of video game players both after playing a game and without such consideration was reviewed. While many of our studies are about response style in dreams resulting from game play, we also have considered incorporation issues. Some of our previous results seemed to favour the continuity hypothesis others favoured the discontinuity perspective. Two approaches to coding gamers’ dreams were considered and critiqued. Some of these problems were then taken up in a compilation of data from three previous research studies where games were played the day before a dream and dream information was gathered. The 182 dreams were categorized into three groups, no game incorporation, partial game incorporation, and full game incorporation (i.e., the dream is the game). Individual difference and game content variables were unrelated to incorporation into subsequent dreams. However, this classification of dreams did result in various content differences.</p

A case study of a young man who is an avid video game player and designer is the focus of this paper. His online Website offers over 800 dreams, of which over half were content analyzed using the Hall and Van de Castle system. Also available were daily blogs. Thus, several research questions could be addressed. Did the diary evidence consistency across time? Did the dreams evidence incorporation of activities discussed in the daily blogs from the day before the dream? Did this one individual's dream diary echo former research into the dreams of video game players? A final question was addressed because of the diagnosis of the diarist as having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Did the dreams of this young man echo previous research into dreams of OCD sufferers? The findings were that the diary was consistent across time and there was incorporation of some elements of the daily blog into subsequent dreams. Some aspects of his dreams echoed previous video game players' dream findings, like more dead and imaginary characters. Finally, the OCD analysis only partly replicated the previous research into the dreams of those with OCD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Video-game play offers the opportunity to investigate the continuity hypothesis. Using interactive video games rather than passive films as a controlled manipulation allows for an engaging presleep experience. Several researchers have successfully used video games to investigate dream incorporation. In this study, interactivity and fidelity were the independent measures that manipulated immersion in a commercially available video game. Interactivity was either passive or active, whereas fidelity was high-screen resolution and stereophonic headset audio versus low. The highest dream incorporation in the high-fidelity–high-interactivity condition was expected. Incorporation was assessed by participant self-report and judges' evaluations. The independent variable of fidelity was especially strong in both the manipulation and the subsequent dream incorporation for self-report. Interactivity became the dominant variable when viewed from the judges' perspectives. The effects of demand characteristics and emotionality were also considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)