Does Watching Color Television Color Our Dreams?
Do androids dream of electric sheep? Possibly, but here's something a bit more relevant: New research suggests that if you grew up watching a black and white television set, you probably dream in black and white.
The evidence comes from Dundee, Scotland, where it is now being estimated that while almost all those under 25 years old dream in color, thousands of those over-55 dream in monochrome, still to this day. "It suggests there could be a critical period in our childhood when watching films has a big impact on the way dreams are formed," says Eva Murzyn, a psychology student at the University of Dundee who carried out the study. "What is even more interesting is that before the advent of black and white television, all the evidence suggests we were dreaming in color."
Research studies from 1915 through the 1950s suggested that the vast majority of dreams were in black and white; Things changed in the sixties, and later results suggested that up to 83-percent of dreams contain some color.
Murzyn surveyed more 60 people (half of which were over 55 and half were under 25), and combined what she found with the older data to form her conclusions.
"The crucial time is between three and 10 when we all begin to have the ability to dream," she said. "Television and films which by their very nature are interesting and emotionally engaging and even dreamlike. So when you dream you may copy what you have seen on the screen. I have even had a computer game player who dreams as if he is in front of a computer screen." All of which explains a hell of a lot. [From: The Telegraph]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
chris said 5:41PM on 10-22-2008
I remember my first color dream. It involved the characters from Scooby Doo and I remember distinctly that I recognized this change. It would have corresponded with my family getting our first color television, and that it had to do with characters on TV I also find quite coincidental.
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