Colors

There's such a strange quality to memory. It might become altered or even twisted in our minds. A couple days ago, driving home -my mom was doing the actual driving- a vivid memory jumped to the forefront of my mind. I don't know what triggered it but I do know that it was as though I could relive the memory. See, since I don't actually drive myself around, I have a lot of thinking time inside the surroundings of the car.

Anyway, what I remembered was the shared room of me and my brother in our house, when we were kids. I can't explain just how peculiar the memory was; it was as if I could feeling myself running my fingers across the little cupboard we had next to the TV. It was both eerie and comforting, because I had thought the memory was completely gone. I was extremely proud of myself for remembering the trivial details; I told my mother just how clearly I remember the house and even the smallest of details. I foolishly bet my mother that my memory was better.

So I suggested that we have a contest. My mom and I would sketch what we remembered the room as and my brother would have to pick the one he thinks is more precise. It sounds lame in writing but it was actually quite entertaining.

The results of the "contest" was odd though. There were various big differences between my sketch and that of my mother. She had placed the cupboard on the right of the TV, while mine was on the left. I had sketched the TV playing SpongeBob while her's was turned off. I remembered to add the little magnets on the cupboard while she remembered to add our Spider-Man blankets on the foot of the beds. It was clear that our memories differed, perhaps because we had different priorities. Though we both spent the same amount of time in that room, our memories have been altered depending on what we found to be important. I remembered playing with those magnets every morning, arranging and then rearranging them; she remembered folding our rumpled blankets after we left for school in a rush.

Memory differs within people because our separate experiences alter the way we remember similar things. Isn't that mind-blowing? I remember everyone from the position of 5 feet above ground, so I probably haven't seen the top of almost anyone's head.

Memory is of high importance in dream research. Various theories seem to suggest that dreams are simply memories. When re-contemplating this idea, the thought of dreaming in color crossed my mind. Not everyone dreams in color, you know. A small portion of people dream in black and white. Now why is that the case? A survey showed that most elderly dream in black and white while middle aged dream in technicolor. The cause of this might actually be exposure to television. The study conducted by researcher Eva Munzyn actually showed that those who grew up with black and white TVs had dreams that lacked color.

The conclusion of this study might suggest that it is in fact true that memory and dreams are strongly intertwined. However, I don't believe that this is the best evidence to show the connection between dreams and memory. Though the study does bring up a good point about color within dreams, it also does not prove that the dreams were actually in black and white. Those that admitted to having dreams that lack color may just recall the dreams as that because they grew up with black and white televisions. While the dream may have been in color, the interpretation and the recall might lack color because it is how those who grew up without color TV remembered dreams.

Actually, Robert Hoss's research with color and emotions seems to suggest that one is more likely to recall a dream if it is vivid with color. Though most of the elderly recalled having black and white dreams, their remembrance was not affected.

I think this clearly shows how important it is to question, even the absolutes. If one was to ask me if I dream in black and white, I would not be able to answer with assurance because I simply do not know. Think about it, if we barely even think about what our dream was or even meant, why would we pay attention to a smaller detail like color within?