A Qualitative Approach to Children Ideas About Dreams and Mind

Abstract

Children's understanding of dreams as mental states was examined as an instance of their development of a mind in general. Ten children between three and nine years of age were interviewed to determine how well they understood the location, privacy, and origin of their own dreams and mind. Findings revealed significant age increases in dream and mind understanding. Results show that young children (3 to 5-years-old) experienced short dreams related to specific actions such as run, jump, or video games. Older children (7 to 8-years.old), however, report more complex dreams and twice as many dreams as younger children; more importantly, their role in dreams becomes more active. Data also show how children’s conceptions about private processes are not static but evolved with age in somehow predictable sequences as Kohlberg stated years ago (1969).