| Abstract: | We examined evidence for developmental and generational differences in dreaming in color from childhood to old age. To separate these effects, we surveyed the frequency of color experience in dreams twice, with a 16-year interval between surveys. In the 1993 survey, 2,077 (male: 1,194; female: 883; ages: 10 to 85 years) and, in 2009, 1,328 (male: 596; female: 732; ages: 11 to 89 years) participants completed a dream recall questionnaire that included a question about the presence of color in their dreams. In both surveys, approximately 80% of subjects younger than 30 years of age experienced color in their dreams, but the percentage decreased with age and fell to approximately 20% by the age of 60. The frequency of dreaming in color increased from 1993 to 2009 only for respondents in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. We speculate that color TV may play a role in the generational difference observed. However, it is true that generation affects the incidence of color in dreams, as suggested by Schwitzgebel, Huang, and Zhou (2006) and Murzyn (2008), although this effect is very small compared with that of aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved) |
