Answer the following questions:

(a) What purpose do dreams serve according to the researchers? Explain.

(b) Define dream in your own words.

(c) What is the difference between dream and nightmare?

(d) What are the characteristics of dream according to the passage?

(e) What is Sigmund Freud's theory of dreams consistent with? What does it suggest?

(a) The researchers are yet to pinpoint the exact purpose dreams serve. Some researchers say that dreams serve no purpose at all, while others argue that dreams are absolutely necessary for mental, physical and emotional well-being.

(b) Dream is the representation of subconscious images, thoughts and emotions that we experience during sleep. Dreams can be vivid or vague, joyful or frightening, focused and understandable or unclear and confusing.

(c) Dream is a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep. On the other hand, when we dream something extremely bad, we call it a nightmare. So, a dream may either be pleasant or sweet or be unpleasant or bitter or horrible, whereas a nightmare is a frightening or unpleasant dream.

(d) According to the passage, dreams can be extraordinarily vivid or very vague. They can be filled with joyful emotions or frightening images. They can also be focused and understandable or unclear and confusing.

(e) Sigmund Freud's theory of dreams is consistent with the psychoanalytic perspective. It suggests that dreams are a representation of subconscious desires, thoughts and motivations. In his famous book 'The Interpretation of Dreams', he wrote that dreams are disguised fulfillments of repressed wishes, which find expression through dreams.