2. Research Question
Why are some dreams
remembered and others
forgotten?
3. I Was Inspired….
Have you ever wondered why sometimes you
forget your dreams, while other times you
recall them as clearly as if they were real?
Dreams have sincerely fascinated me in so
many ways, but have raised puzzling questions
for me and many other individuals. I decided to
dig a little deeper and uncover the mysteries of
my dreams by immersing myself into the topic.
4. My 30 Day Immersion
For my 30 day immersion, I
kept a detailed journal by
my bed side to record all of
my dreams. I recorded all of
the details of the dreams
and took note of when I
went to sleep, when I woke
up, and how I was awaken. I
also took the time to write
down my thoughts after the
day was over to record any
new discoveries I may have
come across.
5. After the immersion, I
recalled my dreams 17 days What I Discovered
total out of 30.
My loving Noni
dreaming away
6. What I Discovered
After reviewing the notes in my journal, I
discovered that I recalled more dreams when I
woke up naturally (ie: without an alarm or
phone call or another person). When my sleep
was interrupted by someone else, I immediately
lost details of the dream or could not recall any
part of the dream. However, when I woke up on
my own, I was able to more clearly remember
my dreams and record them without any issues.
7. Dream Recall for 30 Days
14
Number of Dreams/Days Recalled
12
10
8
6
Dreams
4
2
0
No Alarm Clock Phone Call Another
Interruption person
How I was awaken
• As you can see, I recalled the most dreams when my sleep was not interrupted. 13 dreams
were recalled uninterrupted, 2 were somewhat recalled after receiving a phone call, 1 dream
recalled after my alarm clock went off, and only 1 recalled when my sister woke me up.
8. Combination of Eight Hours of sleep being awaken
with an Alarm vs. without an Alarm: Study done by
College students
“This graph displays how
people were better able
to recall dreams when
awoken without an alarm
vs. with an alarm. The p-
value is less than .05
indicating that there is a
significant statistical
difference of dream
recall between being
awaken without an alarm Similar study done by college students at Miami
University
vs. with an alarm.”
9. What I Discovered
Secondly, I learned that length of sleep does not
necessarily effect whether people recall dreams.
There were times when I remembered dreams
after sleeping all night, and times when I took an
hour long nap and recalled my dream just as
easily.
11. What I Discovered
I also learned that the dreams I remembered were
the ones that I had just minutes before waking up.
For example, when I took a nap, I had a very
detailed and disturbing dream about a grasshopper
in my room. When I woke up from the dream, my
sister said that I had been rapidly moving around
and even made a squeaky sound just before waking
up. Then I told her about the dream and
determined that my sister witnessed me having a
dream just before I woke up.
12. Grasshopper Dream Video: The Evidence
Touch picture to play
At the end of the video, click to move to the next slide.
13. What I Discovered
Another thing I discovered was that some dreams
do occur because of a past event. I recently had two
dreams that related to an activity I had engaged in
just a day or two before. The dream about the
wedding dress shopping was related to the TV
show, Say Yes to the Dress, and the dream about
the grasshopper was related to the grasshoppers
we dissected in biology just days before. I think that
was very interesting that I had dreams related to
some of my personal experiences. This discovery
supports my theory that some dreams do have a
meaning or purpose.
14. What I Discovered
Finally, after immersing myself in this project, I learned that there
is not one single explanation of why we remember or forget
dreams, but there are many. I experienced that there can be quite
a few reasonable explanations, such as depth of sleep, how a
person is awakened, or how drastic or dramatic the dream is. I
will hopefully find the answer to this when I do my library
research.
During this experiment, there were times when I woke up and
remembered having dreams but did not recall any of the details
after waking up. I wasn’t really sure why this occurred but I hope
to discover a reason for it in my research. Overall, it was really
fun and interesting for me to get to know my mind better while it
was asleep. I have never considered what goes on in my head
after I lay down to go to bed. Dreams are a fascinating sensation
that I hope to share with my fellow peers and audience.
15. Final Thoughts About
the Project
• During this experiment, there were times
when I woke up and remembered having
dreams but did not recall any of the details
after waking up. I wasn’t really sure why
this occurred but I hope to discover a reason
for it in my research. Overall, it was really
fun and interesting for me to get to know my
mind better while it was asleep. I have never
considered what goes on in my head after I
lay down to go to bed. Dreams are a
fascinating sensation that I hope to share
with my fellow peers and audience.
As you can see, I recalled the most dreams when my sleep was not interrupted. 13 dreams were recalled uninterrupted, 2 were somewhat recalled after receiving a phone call, 1 dream recalled after my alarm clock went off, and only 1 recalled when my sister woke me up.
