Dream Recall: State or Trait Variable? Part II: State Factors, Investigations and Final Conclusions

Abstract

The first part of a two article series presented the hypotheses explaining the variation in dream recall, a model of the dream recall process and the empirical data concerning trait factors. The present article includes earlier data concerning state factors, new empirical data on how these influence dream recall, and some final conclusions. State factors such as nocturnal awakenings and focusing on dreams in the morning along with trait factors of fantasy life, creativity and visual memory all play an important part in explaining the variability in dream recall. Additionally, some suggestions for future research in explaining why there is such variability in our ability to recollect what we dreamt in a given night are presented.