title: Nested ideation and the problem of reality: dreams and works of art in dreams.
abstract: This study uses seven well-analyzed dreams to establish three empirical generalizations about dreams and works of art nested in dreams: (1) Those dreams attempt to deny a painful reality in some way depicted in the nested element; (2) they present an antithetical view of that reality (both denying and affirming); and (3) they are consistently associated with the problem of reality (the problem of deciding what is real or true). The explanation of these empirical generalizations is based on a hypothesis derived from Freud's 1911 formulation of the dream within a dream.
authors.affiliation: L.BalterMD@aol.com
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Balter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001154:Art; D004325:Dreams; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000379:methods; D012919:Social Behavior