Assessing Autocorrelation in Studies Using the Hall and Van de Castle Coding System to Study Individual Dream Series

作者：Domhoff G William^*; Schneider Adam

来源：Dreaming, 2015, 25(1): 70-79.

DOI：10.1037/a0038791

• autocorrelation
• content analysis
• dream content
• dream series

This article reports statistical findings concerning the presence of autocorrelation in studies using the Hall and Van de Castle (1966) coding system to quantify various aspects of dream content in samples containing multiple dream reports from 1 person. It employs the Wald and Wolfowitz (1940) runs test, which tests for randomness in time series that are based on the categorical level of measurement, to search for autocorrelation in 10 subsets of dream reports from 4 different dream series-a total of 125 runs tests in all. The results provide no indication of autocorrelation. These findings are discussed in the context of relevant empirical studies in laboratory and nonlaboratory settings, which suggest that any individual dream is likely a random occurrence drawn from the dreamer's large storehouse of cognitive abilities and semantic memories. Possible practical applications of these findings for studying dream series from atypical individuals are suggested.

• 出版日期2015-3