https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12705505/

Do people still report dreaming in black and white? An attempt to replicate a questionnaire from 1942

In the 1940s and 1950s many people in the United States appear to have thought they dreamed in black and white. For example, Middleton (1942) found that 70.7% of 277 college sophomores reported “rarely” or “never” seeing colors in their dreams. The present study replicated Middleton’s questionnaire and found that a sample of 124 students in 2001 reported a significantly greater rate of colored dreaming than the earlier sample, with only 17.7% saying that they “rarely” or “never” see colors in their dreams. Assuming that dreams themselves have not changed over this time period, it appears that one or the other (or both) groups of respondents must be profoundly mistaken about a basic feature of their dream experiences.

—-

The first time I heard about the phenomenon of people dreaming in monochrome was in a Hammer horror episode called Rude Awakening, starring the delightful Denholm Elliott. (He expresses surprise that all the dreams were in colour).

The date of the earlier study suggests to me that it was most likely to be due to films rather than TV, as only a few % of Americans had television in 1942.

Sometimes see particularly vivid colours in my dreams. But normally they don’t seem to be very prominent, just naturalistic or taken for granted.

>Rude Awakening

Ha, that’s from the Hammer House of Horror TV series which I have on DVD. I only dimly remember that episode, I’ll have to rewatch it some time.

Sometimes see particularly vivid colours in my dreams. But normally they don’t seem to be very prominent, just naturalistic or taken for granted.

ditto.

yet the technicolour ones seem more memorable.

dv said:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12705505/

Do people still report dreaming in black and white? An attempt to replicate a questionnaire from 1942

In the 1940s and 1950s many people in the United States appear to have thought they dreamed in black and white. For example, Middleton (1942) found that 70.7% of 277 college sophomores reported “rarely” or “never” seeing colors in their dreams. The present study replicated Middleton’s questionnaire and found that a sample of 124 students in 2001 reported a significantly greater rate of colored dreaming than the earlier sample, with only 17.7% saying that they “rarely” or “never” see colors in their dreams. Assuming that dreams themselves have not changed over this time period, it appears that one or the other (or both) groups of respondents must be profoundly mistaken about a basic feature of their dream experiences.

—-

The first time I heard about the phenomenon of people dreaming in monochrome was in a Hammer horror episode called Rude Awakening, starring the delightful Denholm Elliott. (He expresses surprise that all the dreams were in colour).

The date of the earlier study suggests to me that it was most likely to be due to films rather than TV, as only a few % of Americans had television in 1942.

I have had times in my life when I dreamed in black and white.

The more vivid the colours, the more emotionally disturbed I am. And during the long periods between times of emotional disturbance , the dreams slowly revert to monochrome.

dv said:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12705505/

Do people still report dreaming in black and white? An attempt to replicate a questionnaire from 1942

In the 1940s and 1950s many people in the United States appear to have thought they dreamed in black and white. For example, Middleton (1942) found that 70.7% of 277 college sophomores reported “rarely” or “never” seeing colors in their dreams. The present study replicated Middleton’s questionnaire and found that a sample of 124 students in 2001 reported a significantly greater rate of colored dreaming than the earlier sample, with only 17.7% saying that they “rarely” or “never” see colors in their dreams. Assuming that dreams themselves have not changed over this time period, it appears that one or the other (or both) groups of respondents must be profoundly mistaken about a basic feature of their dream experiences.

—-

The first time I heard about the phenomenon of people dreaming in monochrome was in a Hammer horror episode called Rude Awakening, starring the delightful Denholm Elliott. (He expresses surprise that all the dreams were in colour).

The date of the earlier study suggests to me that it was most likely to be due to films rather than TV, as only a few % of Americans had television in 1942.

Surely before TVs or films or photographs existed people would’ve thought they dreamed in colour, since the world is in colour? Why would they think that changed just because of a small aspect of their lives (i.e. films)?

Kothos said:

dv said:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12705505/

Do people still report dreaming in black and white? An attempt to replicate a questionnaire from 1942

In the 1940s and 1950s many people in the United States appear to have thought they dreamed in black and white. For example, Middleton (1942) found that 70.7% of 277 college sophomores reported “rarely” or “never” seeing colors in their dreams. The present study replicated Middleton’s questionnaire and found that a sample of 124 students in 2001 reported a significantly greater rate of colored dreaming than the earlier sample, with only 17.7% saying that they “rarely” or “never” see colors in their dreams. Assuming that dreams themselves have not changed over this time period, it appears that one or the other (or both) groups of respondents must be profoundly mistaken about a basic feature of their dream experiences.

—-

The first time I heard about the phenomenon of people dreaming in monochrome was in a Hammer horror episode called Rude Awakening, starring the delightful Denholm Elliott. (He expresses surprise that all the dreams were in colour).

The date of the earlier study suggests to me that it was most likely to be due to films rather than TV, as only a few % of Americans had television in 1942.

Surely before TVs or films or photographs existed people would’ve thought they dreamed in colour, since the world is in colour? Why would they think that changed just because of a small aspect of their lives (i.e. films)?

people are highly suggestible

I’m not aware of colour or lack of colour being a feature of my dreams.

Kothos said:

]

Surely before TVs or films or photographs existed people would’ve thought they dreamed in colour, since the world is in colour? Why would they think that changed just because of a small aspect of their lives (i.e. films)?

Yes. That’s tbe point. There was a brief period in history where it was common for people to report dreaming in black and white, corresponding to the black and white film and tv era.

dv said:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12705505/

Do people still report dreaming in black and white? An attempt to replicate a questionnaire from 1942

In the 1940s and 1950s many people in the United States appear to have thought they dreamed in black and white. For example, Middleton (1942) found that 70.7% of 277 college sophomores reported “rarely” or “never” seeing colors in their dreams. The present study replicated Middleton’s questionnaire and found that a sample of 124 students in 2001 reported a significantly greater rate of colored dreaming than the earlier sample, with only 17.7% saying that they “rarely” or “never” see colors in their dreams. Assuming that dreams themselves have not changed over this time period, it appears that one or the other (or both) groups of respondents must be profoundly mistaken about a basic feature of their dream experiences.

—-

The first time I heard about the phenomenon of people dreaming in monochrome was in a Hammer horror episode called Rude Awakening, starring the delightful Denholm Elliott. (He expresses surprise that all the dreams were in colour).

The date of the earlier study suggests to me that it was most likely to be due to films rather than TV, as only a few % of Americans had television in 1942.

my dreams are that old they are in sepia.

ChrispenEvan said:

dv said:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12705505/

Do people still report dreaming in black and white? An attempt to replicate a questionnaire from 1942

In the 1940s and 1950s many people in the United States appear to have thought they dreamed in black and white. For example, Middleton (1942) found that 70.7% of 277 college sophomores reported “rarely” or “never” seeing colors in their dreams. The present study replicated Middleton’s questionnaire and found that a sample of 124 students in 2001 reported a significantly greater rate of colored dreaming than the earlier sample, with only 17.7% saying that they “rarely” or “never” see colors in their dreams. Assuming that dreams themselves have not changed over this time period, it appears that one or the other (or both) groups of respondents must be profoundly mistaken about a basic feature of their dream experiences.

—-

The first time I heard about the phenomenon of people dreaming in monochrome was in a Hammer horror episode called Rude Awakening, starring the delightful Denholm Elliott. (He expresses surprise that all the dreams were in colour).

The date of the earlier study suggests to me that it was most likely to be due to films rather than TV, as only a few % of Americans had television in 1942.

my dreams are that old they are in sepia.

I’ve seen some of those.

dv said:

Kothos said:

]

Surely before TVs or films or photographs existed people would’ve thought they dreamed in colour, since the world is in colour? Why would they think that changed just because of a small aspect of their lives (i.e. films)?

Yes. That’s tbe point. There was a brief period in history where it was common for people to report dreaming in black and white, corresponding to the black and white film and tv era.

But the question is, why would b&w films have such a massive influence on peoples’ reporting of their dreams.

Perhaps because when we are awake we are part of the world we see in colour, but when dreaming it is like observing a separate world from outside, like watching a film, so it must be B&W.

That or the person recording the results mis-heard the number, and the old % seeing b&w was actually exactly the same as the latest result.

dv said:

Kothos said:

Surely before TVs or films or photographs existed people would’ve thought they dreamed in colour, since the world is in colour? Why would they think that changed just because of a small aspect of their lives (i.e. films)?

Yes. That’s tbe point. There was a brief period in history where it was common for people to report dreaming in black and white, corresponding to the black and white film and tv era.

That’s pretty nuts though. I mean I’m not necessarily disputing it. It’s just amazing.

remember when film were all silent and back then everyone had dreams devoid of any audible speech or other sound

SCIENCE said:

remember when film were all silent and back then everyone had dreams devoid of any audible speech or other sound

:)

Kothos said:

dv said:

Kothos said:

Surely before TVs or films or photographs existed people would’ve thought they dreamed in colour, since the world is in colour? Why would they think that changed just because of a small aspect of their lives (i.e. films)?

Yes. That’s tbe point. There was a brief period in history where it was common for people to report dreaming in black and white, corresponding to the black and white film and tv era.

That’s pretty nuts though. I mean I’m not necessarily disputing it. It’s just amazing.

the cones in your eyes are a very recent evolutionary adaptation. They came about just after the advent of colour films.

Before the advent of cinema, people’s dreams were often performed by glove puppets.

ChrispenEvan said:

Kothos said:

dv said:

Yes. That’s tbe point. There was a brief period in history where it was common for people to report dreaming in black and white, corresponding to the black and white film and tv era.

That’s pretty nuts though. I mean I’m not necessarily disputing it. It’s just amazing.

the cones in your eyes are a very recent evolutionary adaptation. They came about just after the advent of colour films.

you’re wrong, you need to remember that the 1960s to 1980s were when vaccination programs really took off, the colour vision is from those upgraded chips they developed for implantation at that time

Link

The ancient Greeks couldn’t see blue.

ChrispenEvan said:

Kothos said:

dv said:

Yes. That’s tbe point. There was a brief period in history where it was common for people to report dreaming in black and white, corresponding to the black and white film and tv era.

That’s pretty nuts though. I mean I’m not necessarily disputing it. It’s just amazing.

the cones in your eyes are a very recent evolutionary adaptation. They came about just after the advent of colour films.

:)

I first seen it mentioned in NS mag, maybe a decade or more ago, not sure if an article or the letters in the back

suggested that if you grew up watching B&W TV you tended to dream in B&W

wondered about this proposition on and off over the years, became a bit of a joke, given when I was very young it was hard to make the characters in Sesame Street out in the snow, what effect might have that had

SCIENCE said:

ChrispenEvan said:

Kothos said:

That’s pretty nuts though. I mean I’m not necessarily disputing it. It’s just amazing.

the cones in your eyes are a very recent evolutionary adaptation. They came about just after the advent of colour films.

you’re wrong, you need to remember that the 1960s to 1980s were when vaccination programs really took off, the colour vision is from those upgraded chips they developed for implantation at that time

shakes fist at Bill Gates!

Some people have BW&S dreams.

ChrispenEvan said:

Link

The ancient Greeks couldn’t see blue.

but they say

This is a map of the inner portion of the Moscow Metro. It shows a purple line, a green line, an orange line, a red line, and a yellow line, but to distinguish line three from line four, I’d have to say that one is the dark blue line and one is the light blue line. In Russian, though, they have actual different words for these colors. Line four is голубо́й (goluboy) and line three is си́ний (siniy).

without reminding us that the words used to be “blue” and “indigo” but have now shifted to “cyan” so

ChrispenEvan said:

Kothos said:

dv said:

Yes. That’s tbe point. There was a brief period in history where it was common for people to report dreaming in black and white, corresponding to the black and white film and tv era.

That’s pretty nuts though. I mean I’m not necessarily disputing it. It’s just amazing.

the cones in your eyes are a very recent evolutionary adaptation. They came about just after the advent of colour films.

transition said:

I first seen it mentioned in NS mag, maybe a decade or more ago, not sure if an article or the letters in the back

suggested that if you grew up watching B&W TV you tended to dream in B&W

wondered about this proposition on and off over the years, became a bit of a joke, given when I was very young it was hard to make the characters in Sesame Street out in the snow, what effect might have that had

ah for those days when dreams used to be interrupted by white noise snow, and you could peacefully sleep between them

nowadays when one dream stops and before another starts, we just get buffering and block artefact and it’s much harder to sleep happily through that

perhaps some of the tendency to report B&W dreams is the outcome of light level decline day’s-end, into twilight, and it is a bit special, even potentially romantic

btm said:

ChrispenEvan said:

Kothos said:

That’s pretty nuts though. I mean I’m not necessarily disputing it. It’s just amazing.

the cones in your eyes are a very recent evolutionary adaptation. They came about just after the advent of colour films.

That’s true but kiddies dont get taught that now.

ChrispenEvan said:

Link

The ancient Greeks couldn’t see blue.

Their seas were wine dark.

btm said:

ChrispenEvan said:

Kothos said:

That’s pretty nuts though. I mean I’m not necessarily disputing it. It’s just amazing.

the cones in your eyes are a very recent evolutionary adaptation. They came about just after the advent of colour films.

LOL

:)

Ian said:

I’m not aware of colour or lack of colour being a feature of my dreams.

I also have no idea if my dreams are colour or black and white. Perhaps it’s entirely irrelevent.

Bubblecar said:

Before the advent of cinema, people’s dreams were often performed by glove puppets.

:)

transition said:

perhaps some of the tendency to report B&W dreams is the outcome of light level decline day’s-end, into twilight, and it is a bit special, even potentially romantic

what are you saying, ¿ people sleep at night when it’s dark and scotopic vision dominates and is monochromatic ?, damn imagine that

buffy said:

Ian said:

I’m not aware of colour or lack of colour being a feature of my dreams.

I also have no idea if my dreams are colour or black and white. Perhaps it’s entirely irrelevent.

I know mine are in colour.

dv said:

buffy said:

Ian said:

I’m not aware of colour or lack of colour being a feature of my dreams.

I also have no idea if my dreams are colour or black and white. Perhaps it’s entirely irrelevent.

I know mine are in colour.

Nightfall, o river of night flow through me
Washing the thoughts of the day on your waters away
For the morrow that dawns never knew me

Nightfall nightfall folding her dark locks around you
Her eyes they have found you
Would show you this new dream they’re holding

O sleep, o come to me you are night’s daughter
And I’ll give you my eyes for the colors that rise
As time’s echoes reflect on your waters

Robin Williamson.

SCIENCE said:

transition said:

perhaps some of the tendency to report B&W dreams is the outcome of light level decline day’s-end, into twilight, and it is a bit special, even potentially romantic

what are you saying, ¿ people sleep at night when it’s dark and scotopic vision dominates and is monochromatic ?, damn imagine that

I was thinking further along than the front-end narrow-band transducers, to the magic of the retreat further into the cranium, I started with it’s actually dark in there, not much lit up at all, not an impression represented accurately by the neuronal jellyware, certainly not with eyes open, and I thought what an ideal corresponding retreat it is days’-end, sort of brings all the external physical aspects and perceptual contributers of diurnality together, even folded back detached from the external world momentarily

I thought what a wonderful thing is the home in the head, and the sense for that

The other night I laughed so loud while dreaming that I woke myself up.

In the dream I was watching a low budget music clip starring an old woman with too much makeup reenacting the time Frank Sinatra visited the little village back in 1955.

SCIENCE said:

Kothos said:

dv said:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12705505/

Do people still report dreaming in black and white? An attempt to replicate a questionnaire from 1942

In the 1940s and 1950s many people in the United States appear to have thought they dreamed in black and white. For example, Middleton (1942) found that 70.7% of 277 college sophomores reported “rarely” or “never” seeing colors in their dreams. The present study replicated Middleton’s questionnaire and found that a sample of 124 students in 2001 reported a significantly greater rate of colored dreaming than the earlier sample, with only 17.7% saying that they “rarely” or “never” see colors in their dreams. Assuming that dreams themselves have not changed over this time period, it appears that one or the other (or both) groups of respondents must be profoundly mistaken about a basic feature of their dream experiences.

—-

The first time I heard about the phenomenon of people dreaming in monochrome was in a Hammer horror episode called Rude Awakening, starring the delightful Denholm Elliott. (He expresses surprise that all the dreams were in colour).

The date of the earlier study suggests to me that it was most likely to be due to films rather than TV, as only a few % of Americans had television in 1942.

Surely before TVs or films or photographs existed people would’ve thought they dreamed in colour, since the world is in colour? Why would they think that changed just because of a small aspect of their lives (i.e. films)?

people are highly suggestible

Yes they noticed the corresponding descriptions of how aliens looked in so called abductions and how they were portrayed in the culture at the time.

Cymek said:

SCIENCE said:

Kothos said:

Surely before TVs or films or photographs existed people would’ve thought they dreamed in colour, since the world is in colour? Why would they think that changed just because of a small aspect of their lives (i.e. films)?

people are highly suggestible

Yes they noticed the corresponding descriptions of how aliens looked in so called abductions and how they were portrayed in the culture at the time.

have you thought of the other much simpler explanation, that they saw the same aliens as the portraying artists saw

Divine Angel said:

The other night I laughed so loud while dreaming that I woke myself up.

In the dream I was watching a low budget music clip starring an old woman with too much makeup reenacting the time Frank Sinatra visited the little village back in 1955.

Heh. I was being chased by zombies in my dream last night, but it was OK because it was a game. Quite often dream that I’m in a computer game, but in real life so to speak.

My theory is that we don’t dream in pictures at all, but in abstract concepts. When we wake, though, our brains fill in the pictures. This explains why people who’ve been blind since birth dream in sounds and touch rather than pictures. “But,” I hear you cry, in your relentless search for truth, “What about lucid dreaming?” Once again, that’s your brain adding pictures to the abstract concepts in your dream; there’s no actual lucidity in the dream.

I’m not sure how to test it, or even whether the theory’s falsifiable.

we don’t experience the world in pictures at all, but in abstract concepts

What about feeling in dreams?

People say that you don’t feel pain in your dreams.

I once dreamt that i’d been shot in the stomach (FWIW, i shot dead the person who did it to me, and i felt really awful about that when i woke up. Honestly, that bothered me more than anything else.)

Now, i’ve never been shot in the stomach, but based on what i felt in that dream, it hurts LIKE A BITCH! So, i plan to avoid the experience.

captain_spalding said:

What about feeling in dreams?

People say that you don’t feel pain in your dreams.

I once dreamt that i’d been shot in the stomach (FWIW, i shot dead the person who did it to me, and i felt really awful about that when i woke up. Honestly, that bothered me more than anything else.)

Now, i’ve never been shot in the stomach, but based on what i felt in that dream, it hurts LIKE A BITCH! So, i plan to avoid the experience.

I once had a dream where I and others were afflicted with some vampirish affliction which necessitated the regular drinking the blood of innocents. As with all things I soon grew weary of my evil existence and took myself to a fourth story building and jumped to my just end. Hit the ground and nothing happened. Someone dryly remarked ‘you can’t kill yourself’. I woke up soon after.

I have bizarre dreams.

Witty Rejoinder said:

captain_spalding said:

What about feeling in dreams?

People say that you don’t feel pain in your dreams.

I once dreamt that i’d been shot in the stomach (FWIW, i shot dead the person who did it to me, and i felt really awful about that when i woke up. Honestly, that bothered me more than anything else.)

Now, i’ve never been shot in the stomach, but based on what i felt in that dream, it hurts LIKE A BITCH! So, i plan to avoid the experience.

I once had a dream where I and others were afflicted with some vampirish affliction which necessitated the regular drinking the blood of innocents. As with all things I soon grew weary of my evil existence and took myself to a fourth story building and jumped to my just end. Hit the ground and nothing happened. Someone dryly remarked ‘you can’t kill yourself’. I woke up soon after.

I have bizarre dreams.

Dreams like the one i described made me feel very bad about myself. What kind of person am i, i asked, that i could have such dreams?

They went away, now a very rare occurrence, but the question still bothers me.