Can dream content indicate temporal aspects of dreaming?

Abstract

In this essay, dream reports of the author’s dream diary were probed for their temporal aspects regarding dream production and experience. Three different general inferences were drawn from the dream contents: (a) Dreams are produced and experienced in real-time. (b) Dreams are produced in advance, saved and experienced later. (c) Dreaming is constant, being aware of it is variable. There was no single unifying resolution for the inferences. The essay suggests a potential role of dream content in questioning and investigating the temporal aspects of dreaming.