Gamer Dreams Content Relevant to Consciousness in Sleep

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Gamer Dreams Content Relevant to Consciousness in
Sleep

• Alexis Zederayko
• University of Alberta

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The Interviews

• Content analysis of 56 dreams collected from 27
  high-end video game players
• Interview contained questions such as
• Do video games come up in your dreams? If so
  how?
• Tell me your most recent dream.
• a. When did you have this dream? Were video
  games in some way part of the dream? Was it
  lucid? Could you control it? Were you watching
  the action?
• Tell me your most recent dream which in some
  way included video games.
• a. When did you have this dream? Was it lucid?
  Could you control it? Were you watching the
  action?
• Prompts an advantage of interviews

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Expected results

• Higher control of dreams (Gackenbach, 2006)
• Greater physical sensation (Gackenbach, 1988)

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The Scale

• Coding was based on interview questions and
  further elaborated, drawing upon the literature
  of dream lucidity and control
• Content analysis included scales for
• - palpable sensations
• - balance
• - video game or media content
• - lucidity
• - control
• - observer perspective

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Employing the Scale

• Only the descriptions of the dream itself were
  scored
• Lucidity was not assumed

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Scale Dimensions

• Subject 028 Simultaneously participating and
  watching the action
• Daniel It was like there was a camera in my
  house and I was watching it from the camera.
• Jayne Were you also in your body?
• Daniel Yeah, kind of both. When I woke up I
  knew it was supposed to be a dream like I knew
  it should be a dream but while I was dreaming it
  I guess I didnt know I just thought that was
  the normal way that you see things because youre
  asleep and you really dont knowThe person
  watching has no real feelings, like holy crap
  hes dead kind of feelings but sort of laughing.
  The person watching would have the feelings of
  my friend if I told my friend, those feelings
  like kinda laughing and youre screwed kind of
  thing. But the person inside really mad
• Coded as 3 on variable SELFLO

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Chi-Squared Test
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Scale Dimensions

• Subject 017 Video game reference
• Craig I had played a game called Bomber Man
  where you just run around and put bombs down and
  explode areas so that you can leap past and
  theres like monsters running around that can
  kill you or you have to blow them up and I
  remember in the dream I was down like in 3D I
  was the bomber man type guy and there were these
  monsters on these blocks and I was running
  around and my whole family was there actually
  and we were running away from them as fast as we
  could.
• Coded as 1 on variable VIDEO

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Chi-Squared Test
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Chi-Squared Test
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Scale Dimensions

• Subject 014 Lucidity triggered by an event
• Michael Well, once Jean Grey got loose and
  started killing people, I was like this is
  really weird this is probably a dream and it was
  like right after that she showed up and I told
  myself that I need to wake up. I thought that
  something bad was supposed to happen and I
  didnt want it to happen so I should wake up.
• Coded as 1 on variable LUCID and as 1 on
  variable LUEMER1

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Chi-Squared Test
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Scale Dimensions

• Subject 030 Emotional involvement in dream
  action
• Tom I remember this one time I was in the
  river valley in the trees and its kind of
  similar to Edmonton but its not like the
  mountains theres not pine trees or whatever and
  five guys kind of came up on me and I got
  freaked out because they were going to jump me
  or whatever and I was punching them and killing
  them and then I was like oh what did I do and I
  was trying to bury the bodies and stuff
• Coded as 1 on variable WATCHEMO

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Scale Dimensions

• Subject 027 Emotional involvement in dream
  action
• Jayne Okay, were you afraid in the dream?
• Jacob No no I was just kinda like oh thats
  kind of interesting but nothing really not
  really afraid of it I was kinda just like oh
  okay
• Coded as 2 on variable WATCHEMO

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Chi-Squared Test
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Scale Dimensions

• Subject 007 Palpable sensations
• James one dream I was running away from I
  dont even know what it was but then Donkey Kong
  just appears with a mallet and hits me with it
  over the head.
• Coded as 1 on variable Palpa

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Chi-Squared Test
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Scale Dimensions

• Subject 002 Control
• Steve Im back in high school and I cant open
  my locker, I cant remember the combination and
  Im not sure where Im supposed to be.
• Coded as 2 on variable CONSEL, 1 on
  variable CONEV, and 1 on variable CONSCE

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Chi-Squared Test
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Chi-Squared Test not significant
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Chi-Squared Test
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Chi-Squared Test
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Chi-Squared Test
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Factor Analysis - varimax rotation
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References

• Gackenbach, J. (1988). The Psychological Content
  of Lucid versus Nonlucid Dreams. In Psychological
  Content, (pp. 181-219). New York Plenum.
• Gackenbach, J.I. (2006). Video game play and
  lucid dreams Implications for the development of
  consciousness. Dreaming Journal of the
  Association for the Study of Dreams, 16(2),
  96-110.