The general Psychology’s contribution in scientific dream study: historical analysis

Abstract

The article aims to highlight the important role played by general Psychology in the scientific study of dreams. According to a historical perspective, the authors analyze the dream studies between 1872 and 1940 in the national and international context and classified in PsycInfo. The method used integrates the Bottom-Up perspective with the Top-Down: starting from the Content Analysis on the abstracts of the selected works, the data obtained support the elaboration of the historiographical hypothesis. The research conducted by the authors at the Laboratorio di Storia della Psicologia del Dipartimento di Psicologia dinamica e clinica (Sapienza Università di Roma) reveals how the General Psychology has favored the structuring of a scientific and specifically psychological framework in the study of the dream phenomenon laying the foundation for the more advanced contemporary research.