Finding dreams. Comparison between the different functions and meanings. For years, psychologists have been wondering about the mysterious field of dreams. Dreams have always been mysterious. The content of dreams can change instantaneously, presenting inexplicable events or sudden, terrifying images (Whitman, Ornstein & Baldridge, 1964). The fact that dream content can be fascinating is what leads many psychologists to believe that there must be implications to dreams (Webb & Cartwright, 1978). Although many theories have been formulated to explain the functions and meanings of dreams, evidence regarding their purpose is lacking. Indeed, recent researchers such as G. William Domhoff have suggested that dreams most likely have no real purpose (Domhoff, 2001). This research paper considers whether there are significant functions and meanings of dreams by answering the following questions.1. What are the theories that explain dreams?2. What are the limitations behind these theories?3. Is there any conflict between these theories?4. Do dreams have a purpose in psychology? Understanding the differences between the theories would help to better understand the anonymity called dreaming. What are the theories that explain dreams? In the early 1900s, Sigmund Freud proposed that dreams served as a gateway between the dreamer's consciousness and his or her subconscious thoughts (Mccurdy, 1946). Many ideas and information were condensed into one dream. The dream moved important parts and insignificant parts of the dream to confuse the dreamer. Some objects would be introduced into the dream to symbolize the embryonic substance of the dream (Sprengnether, 2003). The dreamer would then understand the dream, thus generating the contents of...... middle of paper ...... sleep: neural systems, consciousness and learning. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3(9), 679-693. doi:10.1038/nrn915 McCurdy, H. G. (1946). The history of dream theory. Psychological Review, 53(4), 225-233. doi:10.1037/h0062107Neher, A. (1996). Jung's theory of archetypes: a critique. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 36(2), 61-91. doi:10.1177/00221678960362008Sprengnether, M. (2003). Mouth to mouth: Freud, Irma and the dream of psychoanalysis. American Imago, 60(3), 259-284. doi:10.1353/aim.2003.0020Webb, W. B., & Cartwright, R. D. (1978). Sleep and dreams. Annual Review of Psychology, 29(1), 223-252. doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.29.020178.001255Whitman, R. M., Ornstein, P. H., & Baldridge, B. J. (1964). An experimental approach to the psychoanalytic theory of dreams and conflicts. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 5(6), 349-363. doi:10.1016/S0010-440X(64)80045-6