Te(Apipa»JVfflcfc6ior  Release  2000/0^^f^A-RDP96-00789R0(ilS^14^)Oft)-2 
I 
Anomalous  Cognition 
in 
Lucid  Dreams 
Prepared  by: 
Edwin  C.  May,  Ph.D.  and  S.  LaBerge 
\ 
20  December  1991 
Science  Applications  International  Corporation 
An  Employee-Owned  Company 
Presented  to: 
The  Scientific  Oversight  Committee 
Submitted  by: 
Science  Applications  International  Corporation 
Cognitive  Sciences  Laboratory 
1010  El  Camino  Real,  Suite  330 
Menlo  Park,  California  94025 
1010  El  Camino  Real ,  Suite  330,  P.O.  Box  1412,  Menlo  Park,  CA  94025  •  (415)  325-8292 
UNEDITED  DRAFT
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DRAFT 
TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 
I  OBJECTIVE     1 
II  BACKGROUND   2 
III  APPROACH   3 
1.  Receiver  Selection   3 
2.  Target  Selection  
3.  Thai  Definition   3 
4.  Lucid  Dream  Protocol   3 
5.  AC  Baseline  Measures   3 
6.  Lucid  Dream  Trial  Protocol      4 
7.  Analysis   4 
IV  DISCUSSIONS  AND  CONCLUSIONS   5 
V   GLOSSARY      6 
REFERENCES   7 
APPENDIX   8 
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DRAFT 
II.  BACKGROUND 
Dreams  involving  putative  anomalous  cognition  (AC)  have  been  part  of  every  human  culture  from  the 
times  of  ancient  Greece  to  the  present.  The  first  serious  attempt,  however,  to  examine  AC  in  dreams 
under  controlled  conditions  began  under  the  direction  of  Montague  Ullman,  MD  in  1962  at  the  Com- 
munity Mental  Health  Center  of  the  Maimonides  Medical  Center  in  Brooklyn,  New  York.  The  re- 
search of  AC  in  dreams  continued  until  1972  where  the  dream  protocol  was  abandoned  in  favor  of  a 
simpler  and  more  rapid  approach  to  the  study  of  AC.  Child  has  summarized  and  critiqued  this  body  of 
research  in  the,  American  Psychologist. 1 
In  these  studies,  individuals  were  asked  to  sleep  in  a   laboratory  and  be  monitored  for  brain  activity  and 
eye  movement.  From  these  records,  it  was  possible  to  tell  when  they  were  dreaming.  Upon  the  onset  of 
rapid  eye  movement  (REM),  an  experimenter  notified  a   sender,  who  was  isolated  in  a   remote  laborato- 
ry, to  begin  attending  to  a   randomly  selected  target.  At  the  end  of  the  REM  period,  the  dreamer  was 
awakened  and  asked  to  report  the  dream  content.  This  procedure  was  repeated  throughout  the  night 
using  the  same  target  material  for  each  separate  dream  (e.g.,  up  to  ten).  The  assessment  of  the  AC 
content  was  accomplished  through  independent  judges.  As  described  by  Child,  significant  evidence  for 
AC  was  observed  under  a   variety  of  conditions. 
The  dreamers  in  these  studies,  however,  were  not  necessarily  focused  upon  the  AC  task.  They  slept  as 
usual  and,  when  asked,  reported  their  dream  content.  In  our  pilot  study  we  will  focus  the  dreamer  ex- 
plicitly  on  the  AC  task  using  the  methods  of  lucid  dreaming. 
A   lucid  dream  is  one  during  which  the  sleeper  becomes  conscious  aware  that  the  experience  is  a   dream 
as  opposed  to  the  waking  state.  LaBerge  et  al.  (1981)  have  found  that  it  is  possible  for  dreamers  to  know 
when  they  dreaming  and  to  signal  the  waking  world,  through  predetermined  eye  movements,  indicating 
their  awareness.2  Using  this  ability,  LaBerge  et  al.  (1986  and  1988)  conducted  a   number  of  psychophy- 
siological  studies  to  determine  the  differences  between  waking  and  dreaming  from  that  prospective.3-4 
They  found  that  dreaming  is  similar  to  the  waking  state.  Motor  action  is  mostly  inhibited  from  the  brain 
stem  downward;  however,  the  cerebral  cortex  appears  not  to  know  this. 
In  this  preliminary  pilot  study,  we  will  use  the  skills  developed  by  LaBerge  to  teach  individuals  to  lucid 
dream.  Differing  from  the  earlier  AC  dream  studies,  our  dreamers  will  be  instructed  to  adopt  a   proac- 
tive attitude  to  seek  out  and  remember  the  AC  target.  In  this  way,  we  will  determine  the  degree  to  which 
lucid  dreaming  can  facilitate  the  reception  of  AC  material. 
*  References  may  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  document  and  arc  included  in  their  entirety  m   the  Appendix. 
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III.  APPROACH 
1 .  Receiver  Selection 
We  will  use  two  specialize  populations  from  which  to  draw  receivers  for  this  pilot  experiment: 
(1)  Experienced  dreamers  from  LaBerg’s  research  subjects ,  and 
(2)  Receivers  who  have  demonstrated  significant  ability  in  other  AC  studies. 
Currently,  five  and  seven  individuals  have  volunteered,  respectively. 
2.  Target  Selection 
Thrgets  will  be  chosen  randomly  from  the  standard  set  of  100  National  Geographic  magazine  photographs. 
3.  Trial  Definition 
A   trial  is  defined  as  a   successful  lucid  dream  during  which  the  target  material  was  examined  and  later 
transcribed  in  the  waking  state. 
4.  Lucid  Dream  Protocol 
All  receivers  will  undertake  two  forms  of  training  in  lucid  dreaming:  (1)  They  will  complete  a   lucid 
dreaming  home-study  course  developed  by  the  Lucidity  Institute  (i.e.,  a   subcontractor  to  SAIC),  and 
(2)  they  will  attend  two  weekend  seminars,  one  at  the  beginning  and  one  at  the  end  of  the  proposed 
three-month  pilot  study.  The  first  seminar,  which  was  held  in  December,  1991,  introduced  receivers  to 
lucid  dreaming  skills  and  the  the  use  of  the  DreamLight,  a   lucid  dream  induction  device.  In  previous 
studies,  the  DreamLight  has  been  shown  to  enhance  the  frequency  of  lucid  dreaming.  The  DreamLight 
consists  of  a   sleep  mask  equipped  with  lights  and  eye  movement  sensors,  which  are  attached  to  a   small 
battery-operated  computer.  When  the  computer  detects  the  eye  movements  of  dreaming  (i.e.,  REM) 
sleep,  it  causes  the  lights  in  the  mask  to  flash  briefly  (i.e.,  either  one  or  two  flashes  per  second).  The 
dreamer  frequently  incorporates  the  flashes  into  the  ongoing  dream,  and  thus  experiences  a   cue  to  indi- 
cate that  he  or  she  is  dreaming.  Receivers  will  have  free  access  to  DreamLights  during  the  duration  of 
the  study. 
5.  AC  Baseline  Measures 
Each  receiver  will  be  asked  to  contribute  eight  trials  in  a   waking  state  in  the  Cognitive  Sciences  Labora- 
tory as  an  AC  baseline  series.  The  targets  for  this  series  will  be  chosen  at  random  from  a   standardized 
target  set  that  was  developed  from  an  earlier  program.  Each  trial  will  be  conducted  as  follows:  After  the 
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DRAFT 
III.  APPROACH 
Receiver  Selection 
We  will  use  two  specialize  populations  from  which  to  draw  receivers  for  this  pilot  experiment: 
(1)  Experienced  dreamers  from  LaBerg’s  research  subjects  ,  and 
(2)  Receivers  who  have  demonstrated  significant  ability  in  other  AC  studies. 
Currently,  five  and  seven  individuals  have  volunteered,  respectively. 
 
Target  
Selection 
Targets  will  be  chosen  randomly  from  the  standard  set  of  100  National  Geographic  magazine  photographs. 
3.  Trial  Definition 
A   trial  is  defined  as  a   successful  lucid  dream  during  which  the  target  material  was  examined  and  later 
transcribed  in  the  waking  state. 
4.  Lucid  Dream  Protocol 
All  receivers  will  undertake  two  forms  of  training  in  lucid  dreaming:  (1)  They  will  complete  a   lucid 
dreaming  home-study  course  developed  by  the  Lucidity  Institute  (i.e.,  a   subcontractor  to  SAIC),  and 
(2)  they  will  attend  two  weekend  seminars,  one  at  the  beginning  and  one  at  the  end  of  the  proposed 
three-month  pilot  study.  The  first  seminar,  which  was  held  in  December,  1991,  introduced  receivers  to 
lucid  dreaming  skills  and  the  the  use  of  the  DreamLight,  a   lucid  dream  induction  device.  In  previous 
studies,  the  DreamLight  has  been  shown  to  enhance  the  frequency  of  lucid  dreaming.  The  DreamLight 
consists  of  a   sleep  mask  equipped  with  lights  and  eye  movement  sensors,  which  are  attached  to  a   small 
battery-operated  computer.  When  the  computer  detects  the  eye  movements  of  dreaming  (i.e.,  REM) 
sleep,  it  causes  the  lights  in  the  mask  to  flash  briefly  (i.e.,  either  one  or  two  flashes  per  second).  The 
dreamer  frequently  incorporates  the  flashes  into  the  ongoing  dream,  and  thus  experiences  a   cue  to  indi- 
cate that  he  or  she  is  dreaming.  Receivers  will  have  free  access  to  DreamLights  during  the  duration  of 
the  study. 
5.  AC  Baseline  Measures 
Each  receiver  will  be  asked  to  contribute  eight  trials  in  a   waking  state  in  the  Cognitive  Sciences  Labora- 
tory as  an  AC  baseline  series.  The  targets  for  this  series  will  be  chosen  at  random  from  a   standardized 
target  set  that  was  developed  from  an  earlier  program.  Each  trial  will  be  conducted  as  follows:  After  the 
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receiver  and  an  experimenter  (i.e.,  called  a   monitor)  enter  the  AC  laboratory  (i.e.,  an  office  with  a   single 
desk  and  two  chairs),  an  assistant  will  use  a   computer  random  number  generator  to  select  a   target  from 
the  baseline  target  pool.  Both  the  receiver  and  the  monitor  will  be  blind  to  this  specific  choice.  At  a 
pre-arranged  time,  the  monitor  will  encourage  the  receiver  to  draw  and  write  impressions  of  the  target 
material,  which  is  located  approximately  50  meters  away.  After  approximately  15  minutes  of  casual 
questioning,  the  trial  will  end;  the  data  will  be  copied;  the  originals  will  be  secured;  and  the  actual  target 
will  be  presented  as  feedback  to  the  receiver.  The  analysis  will  be  discussed  below. 
6.  Lucid  Dream  Trial  Protocol 
During  the  study,  each  receiver  will  attempt  to  provide  six  AC  trials  in  a   lucid  dream  state  according  to 
the  following  procedure: 
(1)  Each  receiver  will  receive  a   sealed  opaque  envelope  containing  a   target  photograph  chosen  ran- 
domly from  a   predetermined  set  of  100.  Receivers  will  place  the  target  envelope  in  the  room  in 
which  they  are  sleeping. 
(2)  Using  the  DreamLight,  they  will  attempt,  while  dreaming,  to  open  the  envelope,  memorize  its  con- 
tent, and  awaken  as  soon  as  possible. 
(3)  In  the  waking  state,  they  will  write  and  draw  their  impressions  in  detail. 
(4)  During  the  next  day,  they  will  mail  the  unopened  envelope  and  their  response  to  the  principal  in- 
vestigator (PI)  for  analysis.  Upon  receipt,  the  PI  will  send  back  a   copy  of  the  target  photograph  as 
feedback  and  an  additional  sealed  envelope  for  the  next  trial.  This  procedure  will  be  repeated 
until  six  trials  are  obtained  from  each  receiver. 
7.  Analysis 
Traditional  rank-ordering  will  be  the  method  of  analysis.  The  set  of  100  National  Geographic  magazine 
photographs  have  been  divided  into  20  packets  of  five  targets  each.  Within  each  pack,  the  targets  have 
been  selected  to  be  as  visually  different  from  one  another  as  possible.  (A  series  of  fuzzy  sets  were  used 
to  provide  a   quantitative  method  that  was  “fine  tuned”  by  human  judgment.)  When  a   target  is  chosen 
from  one  of  the  target  packs,  the  remaining  four  targets  are  considered  as  “decoy”  targets  for  an  analyst. 
For  each  trial,  an  analyst,  is  given  the  AC  response  and  the  target  pack  (i.e.,  five  targets)  from  which  the 
actual  target  was  chosen.  The  analyst  is  required  to  rank  order  the  targets  from  best  to  least  match  to 
the  given  response,  regardless  of  the  quality  of  the  matches.  The  rank  that  is  assigned  to  the  intended 
target  represents  the  value  of  the  dependent  variable  for  the  trial.  A   sum-of-ranks  is  then  computed  for 
all  the  trials  for  each  receiver,  and  effect  sizes  and  p-values  are  determined  from  the  known  sum-of- 
ranks  distribution. 
The  effect  sizes  from  the  lucid  dreaming  trials  will  be  compared  to  each  receiver’s  base  line  data  and  to 
historical  AC  data  that  is  available  for  the  experienced  receivers. 
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