Customer Reviews

Children's Dreaming and the Development of Consciousness

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This book questions the very deep assumptions made about dreaming by both psychologists and members of the folk at large. Apparently, according to the best available evidence -- in the form of two very detailed studies of children over decades -- dreaming requires a relatively sophisticated cognitive achievement that takes place gradually and much later than people assume. Four and five year olds, Foulkes finds reason to believe, almost never dream -- and when and if they do, their dreams are much more static and absent of human agency or emotional content than adult dreams are.

"But wait!" you say. "My son or daughter sometimes wakes up from scary dreams!" Maybe. But, and here is the point: your day-to-day activities offer only anecdotal evidence, subject to various interpretations and possible biases; this is a psychological question, and psychological methodologies are those best-equipped to answer it. That's what this book is about.

Foulkes outlines his methodology and results in clear layman's terms; I am not a psychologist, but I found his descriptions and explanations compelling and lucid. Anyone interested in a real understanding of what dreaming is -- and not just what people think it is -- would do well to buy and read this book. Highly recommend.

(I should add one caveat: in addition to the fascinating and plausible conclusions Foulkes draws about dreaming, he also advertises some striking claims about consciousness. These, I think, are much less developed and convincing. But perhaps I merely misunderstood.)

This book is a fairly detailed summary of the development of consciousness in children and its relationship with dreaming. It is written in language that is easy to understand and yet provides a comprehensive overview of the subject. I enjoyed reading it.