From: clint@matia.stanford.edu (Jennifer Dole)
Subject: LUCIDITY INSTITUTE EXPERIMENT #1
Organization: Psychology Dept, Stanford Univ.
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 92 01:18:14 GMT

TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS!: HOW REAL IS YOUR DREAM HAND?

Readers of alt.dreams show much interest in lucid dreaming, so we 
thought it may be a good forum for research participation. The
following is a home experiment that first appeared in _NightLight_,
Vol. 4, No. 1. Seventeen people originally participated in the
Dream Hand Experiment. We are posting the experiment instructions
here now in hopes of collecting more data so we can compare the
results and draw broader conclusions. If all goes well, and we get
sufficient data from this newsgroup, we will post future experiments
here as well. Please participate; it will be fun! You can help
discover, through your own experience, the frontiers of the dream 
world.

I will post the full set of instructions once a week until November 
25, the experiment deadline. Please do not post your personal results 
until after this time, to avoid biasing other people's results. After 
the analysis is complete, we will post the results from the entire 
group. Thanks!

QUESTIONS? clint@psych.stanford.edu

INTRODUCTION
Dreams feel as real as waking life. Lucid dreams can feel even more 
real than ordinary existence. But, aside from being stunningly 
palpable and fulfilling to the senses, what is the world of lucid 
dreams like? Comparing the nature of experience in dreams with that of 
waking may reveal clues about how brain functions in these two states 
differ. One obvious difference is that while we are awake, sensory 
experience is controlled for the most part by input from the 
environment. In dreams we have vivid sensory experiences, but they 
originate within the mind with no input from the "outside world."
   The question now arises of how our experience of internally 
generated sensation differs from that of externally generated sensory 
stimulation. A simple way to investigate this is to compare personal 
experiences of sensations that can be readily created both in waking 
and dreaming. Such a comparison is the purpose of this experiment.
   The sensation you will study is your experience of your hand. The 
experiment instructions guide you through an examination of your hand 
when you are awake. Then you need to induce a lucid dream and repeat 
the hand examination in the dream. Your experimental report will be an 
account of how your dream hand is similar to and different from your 
hand when you are awake.


==============================PROCEDURE==============================

PLEASE READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE BEGINNING. Please carefully 
follow all instructions to ensure the value of your data.

STEP 1. Prepare your mind to have a lucid dream.
Do whatever you need to do to induce lucid dreams. This may involve 
daytime reality testing, use of the DreamLight, bedtime mental 
exercises, or arranging to take a morning nap a few hours after 
arising a few hours early.

STEP 2. Before sleep, examine your hand.
When you are ready to go to bed and have a lucid dream, follow the 
HAND EXAMINATION PROCEDURE below for evaluating what your hand is 
like. Note each sensation in your mind for comparison with your 
experience of your dream hand in the lucid dream. Commit the 
examination procedure to memory so you can do it in a lucid dream.

STEP 3. In a lucid dream, examine your hand.
Once you are in a lucid dream, again follow the HAND EXAMINATION 
PROCEDURE. When you are done, awaken yourself (closing your eyes and 
withdrawing your attention from the dream is one way to do this). 
Immediately upon awakening (do a reality test to make sure you are 
really awake!) write a description of the lucid dream, including how 
you became lucid. If you were unable to complete the procedure, try 
again in another lucid dream. It may take you several nights of trying 
before you have a lucid dream and complete the hand task. Before each 
night (or nap) in which you think you may have a lucid dream and do 
the experiment, go through the waking hand examination procedure used 
in STEP 2 to make sure it is fresh in your mind.

STEP 4. Repeat hand examination and fill out report.
While still in bed and immediately after finishing your lucid dream 
report, repeat the HAND EXAMINATION PROCEDURE. Then answer the 
questions on the REPORT FORM about your experience.

STEP 5. Submit your results.
After completing the waking and lucid dream hand examination, please 
send your REPORT FORM and Lucid Dream Reports no later than November 
30th to: Lucidity Institute, Box 2364, Stanford, CA 94309 USA.
Or FAX to 415-321-9967.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
HAND EXAMINATION PROCEDURE
Pick either your right or left hand and use it in both the waking 
state and dream state examination. 

1. Look
Look at your hand. Observe it from all angles, scrutinizing its 
markings, lines, and colorations. Notice the fingernails and the 
length and shape of the fingers.

2. Listen
Make a noise with your hand or hands. For example, clap your hands or 
snap your fingers. Listen carefully to the sound this makes.

3. Feel
Wiggle your fingers, then rub your fingertips together. Note how these 
actions feel.

4. Look again
Look at your hand again. Observe it as you did before--from all 
angles, examining the markings, lines, colorations, fingernails and 
fingers. Does it look the same as it did the first time? Do you see 
anything now that you did not see the first time? Is anything missing 
that was there before?
----------------------------------------------------------------------


======================================================================
REPORT FORM (print, fill out, and mail in or FAX)

Name:_________________________ Email address:_________________________

<A> Please answer the following questions immediately after completing 
STEP 4 of the PROCEDURE. In answering questions compare your dream 
hand exam experience to the waking hand exam you just finished. Please 
make your answers brief and informative. Describe both how your hand 
in the lucid dream was the same as and how it was different from your 
hand in waking. 

1. LOOKING: Compared to in waking, in the dream how did your hand look 
the first time you looked at it?








2. LISTENING: Compared to in waking, in the dream what was the sound 
that you made with your hand like?








3. FEELING: Compared to in waking, in the dream how did it feel to 
wiggle your fingers and rub your fingertips together?








4. LOOKING AGAIN: Compared to in waking, how did your dream hand look 
the second time? Did it look the same as it did the first time? Did 
you see anything that you didn't see the first time? Was anything 
missing that was there before?








<B> *Please write a complete report of your lucid dream. In this 
report, you must describe how you became lucid. Without a dream
report and mention of how you knew you were dreaming, we cannot use
your data.
*Please draw 3 pictures of your hand: how it looked the first and 
second times you looked at it in the dream, and how it looked in the 
most recent waking examination.

**PRINT & MAIL (or FAX TO: 415-321-9967) TO: 
THE LUCIDITY INSTITUTE, BOX 2364, STANFORD, CA 94309 USA
======================================================================