Threat Simulation Theory

There are many theories on dreams in the science of Psychology. These ideas cover many outlets such as what a dream could mean to an individual, why we have them in the first place, etc. This paper will focus on the question of why humans have dreams and, more specifically, on the theories surrounding approach versus avoidance within dreams. The initial theory to be discussed is Revonsuo’s Threat Simulation Theory. Revonsuo argues that dreams are the product of evolution (2000). He claims that dreams are a virtual way of rehearsing a possibly dangerous situation. For example, a person may dream that they are being chased by a wild animal so that in their future conscious state if a wild animal did begin chasing them, they would have already …show more content…
The first states that dreams are too organized to not have a purpose and to have arisen by chance. The second is that dreams are “specialized in the reproduction of threatening incidents.” This is based off the idea that dreams most commonly contain negative emotions, especially fear (Domhoff, 1996). Proposition three states that threats that are experienced while a person is awake will affect their dreams creating a mechanism which simulates threat. Proposition four is that dream content can seem incredibly realistic and therefore, could be used as a virtual reality in which to engage with a threat in a realistic way. The fifth proposition is on the basis of outside research which shows that skills practiced in dreams can actually improve that skill in the person in an awakened state. The sixth and last proposition is the idea that this use of dreams was developed evolutionarily as a response to the threats faced by mankind’s …show more content…
He believes instead of dreams being controlled by the amygdala, dreams are controlled with the mesocortical/mesolimbic dopamine system (Solms, 2000). He gathers this idea on the basis of lesion evidence from a study he did in 1997. Other studies have also shown that dopamine neurons are extremely active during dreaming, particularly in the REM cycle of sleep (Dahan, 2007). This alternative theory of dreaming presented by Solms is also backed by evidence that shows that the percentage of people that dream in a “seeking” way is much higher than those that do so in an “avoidant” way. A study by Koopowitz showed that only 27.14% of a sample group were shown to have avoidant dreams while 72.86% were classified as having approach dreams (2011). This evidence goes directly against Revonsuo’s second proposition which says that dreams are “specialized in the reproduction of threatening incidents.” It also leans towards the approach theory of dreams as most dreams reported were approach-like in

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