Ernest Hartmann Boundaries
A Continuum of Mental Functioning Directed waking activity Math problem. Catch fly ball. Focused Looser Fantasy, Day- Dreaming, Reverie Dreaming
A Continuum of Mental Functioning Psychoanalysis: free association Focused Looser Fantasy, Day- Dreaming, Reverie Dreaming
A Continuum of Mental Functioning Inspiration. Discovery. New work of art. Focused Looser Fantasy, Day- Dreaming, Reverie Dreaming
Focused Looser Fantasy, Day- Dreaming, Reverie Dreaming WAKING ACTIVATION DREAMING ACTIVATION
Creating a dream in the laboratory If a dream involves the picturing of emotion ( contextualizing emotion ), could one create a dream or something very dream-like by allowing waking imagery (daydream) to develop under the influence of strong emotion?
Dreamlikeness Scale 5 4.8 4.6 4.4 4.2 4 3.8 Recent Lab Lab Recent Daydream Daydream Daydream Dream w/ Emotion
Bizarreness Scale 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 Recent Lab Lab Recent Daydream Daydream Daydream Dream w/ Emotion
Dreams and Daydreams The daydreams of students with thin boundaries are as dreamlike and as bizarre as the dreams of students with thick boundaries.
Bizarreness Ratings 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Thick Ss DD s Thick Ss D s Thin Ss DD s Thin Ss D s
Dream-likeness Ratings 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Thick Ss DD s Thick Ss D s Thin Ss DD s Thin Ss D s
Boundaries in the Mind Between different sensory inputs Between thought and feeling Around thoughts and feelings ( spread ) Between sleep and waking Between dreaming and waking Between past, present, future Around oneself ( body boundaries)
Boundaries, continued Ego boundaries Interpersonal boundaries in family, etc. Between male and female Between old and young Group boundaries ethnic, race, nation.. Boundaries in organizing one s life B s in philosophy the true, the beautiful, the good
THICK THIN Keep things separate Distinct categories Absolutes. Definite. Black-or-white Solid member of one group Persevering Reliable Together Merging Flexible, it depends Shades of grey Many groups Imaginative Creative
A person with very thick Bs I am awake or I m asleep. That s it. No in-between states. I don t let my emotions interfere with my thinking. They get in the way. I m a man, you re a woman. Vive la difference! The accused is guilty, or he s innocent! A person is sane, or insane! No in-betweens. A good relationship ( or organization) is one where everything is clearly defined. My group is this way. Other groups are totally different. Groups should remain separate.
A person with very thin boundaries Sometimes I m not sure whether I m awake, or still asleep and dreaming. There s no such thing as thought without emotion. My emotions are always involved I m a man, but there s a lot of feminine in me too. We re all a little bit crazy. There are no sharp dividing lines. I m a member of group A, but also sometimes groups B and C. Groups should mix more.
Measuring Boundaries: the BQ The Boundary Questionnaire ( BQ) is a 138- item questionnaire, covering many different categories of boundaries. The BQ has been taken by at least 10,000 people by now.
Boundaries and Dreams Overall there is a positive correlation between Sumound ( thinness of Bs) and dream recall frequency. Many studies. Overall people with thin Bs have longer, more vivid, more dream-like, more emotional, more bizarre dreams, and dreams with more intense Central Images. (CI score).
Boundaries and Dreams Frequent dream recallers ( 7/wk) have much thinner boundaries (in all 12 categories) than non-recallers (+/- none). Dreams reported by people with thin Bs are longer, more vivid, dreamlike, emotional than those in people with thick Bs (Three studies) Dreams reported by people with thin Bs have more powerful Central Images (Two studies).
Boundaries and Dreams People with thin boundaries have been called dreamers as opposed to people with thick boundaries ( thinkers ). Of course this is only relative. Everyone thinks and probably everyone dreams, but those with thin Bs do or at least remember -- more dreaming and probably daydreaming, and are more comfortable with those forms of mental functioning.
A Continuum of Mental Functioning Focused Looser Fantasy, Day- Dreaming, Reverie Dreaming People with thick boundaries spend more time at the left end of the continuum (focused waking). Those with thin boundaries spend more time in and are more comfortable with the right end (daydreaming and dreaming).
A Continuum of Mental Functioning Focused Looser Fantasy, Day- Dreaming, Reverie Dreaming Thick boundary functioning.thin boundary functioning
Emotion and the Continuum Focused Looser Fantasy, Day- Dreaming, Reverie Dreaming EMOTION
The Continuum at the Cerebral Cortex The focused-waking-activity-to-dreaming continuum refers to patterns of activation in the cortex.
1. Regions of Activation Focused thought Looser thought Daydreaming Dreaming
2. Spread of Activation Within a Region Focused thought Looser thought Daydreaming Dreaming
The Contemporary Theory of Dreaming 2. Dreaming is hyperconnective. At the dreaming end of the continuum, connections are made more easily, more broadly, and more loosely than in waking. Dreaming avoids tightly structured, overlearned processes such as reading, writing, typing, calculating.