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Prior Contributions and Ongoing Projects
Dreams Research. In a series of publications (Kuiken & Sikora, 1993; Busink & Kuiken, 1996; Kuiken, Lee, Eng, et al., 2006, Lee & Kuiken, 2013), we identified a dream type (existential dreaming) that is comparable to but qualitatively distinct from nightmares. These dreams, marked by deep sadness, become prominent during bereavement (Kuiken, Lee, & Prinsen, 2016). This newly articulated dream type was recognized in a comprehensive review of parasomnias (Nielsen & Zadra, 2000), in a recent encyclopedia of sleep and dreams (McNamara & Barrett, 2012), and in a recently proposed revision to the DSM5 criteria for nightmares and nightmare disorders. Current Efforts: We are now attempting to replicate evidence (Kuiken, Porthukaran, Albrecht, Douglas, & Cook, 2018) that the aftereffects of existential dreams include the enriched metaphor comprehension that may mediate self-perceptual depth, inexpressible realizations, and sublime feeling.Literary Reading Research. In a series of publications (Kuiken, Miall, & Sikora, 2004; Kuiken, Phillips, Gregus, et al., 2004; Sikora, Kuiken, & Miall, 2010; Sikora, Kuiken, & Miall, 2011), we identified a form of literary reading (expressive enactment) that involves reader identification with characters, repeated variation of affective themes, and progressive transformation of feelings and self-perception. Most recently (Douglas & Kuiken, 2016), we have provided the psychometric means for differentiating explication-centered expressive enactment from inference-centered integrative comprehension; we have also provided evidence that expressive enactment mediates the aesthetic aftereffects of deeply engaged reading and that integrative comprehension mediates the explanatory aftereffects of deeply engaged reading. Current Efforts: We are now attempting to replicate evidence (Kuiken & Douglas, 2017, 2018) that the aftereffects of expressive enactment include the enriched metaphor comprehension that mediates self-perceptual depth, inexpressible realizations, and sublime feeling.