{"id":279,"date":"2022-10-10T17:50:55","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T17:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/?p=279"},"modified":"2022-10-10T17:55:56","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T17:55:56","slug":"nightmares-and-dementia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2022\/10\/10\/nightmares-and-dementia\/","title":{"rendered":"Nightmares and Dementia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An article found here<\/a> describes a study of middle-aged and older adults showing that men who have nightmares at least once a week are significantly more likely than other men to develop dementia. This correlation did not reach statistical significance for women. Speculating on the basis for this association, the researchers suggest that when dementia is in its undetectable early stages, it creates negative emotions that may be expressed as depression while awake and as nightmares while asleep. They hypothesize that medication that can reduce nightmares might also help to slow cognitive decline. Is the association between nightmares and development of dementia causal or correlational? If the latter, what third factor(s) might be responsible for it and why did it only appear in men? The study on which this article is based provides a good example of research methods whose interpretation depends on critical thinking about correlation and causation. It should provide a useful target for classroom discussion as well as a topic for student writing assignments aimed at promoting critical thinking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An article found here describes a study of middle-aged and older adults showing that men who have nightmares at least once a week are significantly more likely than other men to develop dementia. This correlation did not reach statistical significance … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rmstats"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcjttF-4v","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":307,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2023\/03\/20\/hearing-loss-and-dementia\/","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":0},"title":"Hearing Loss and Dementia","author":"dbernstein","date":"March 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent JAMA study, found here describes a strong correlation between hearing loss and dementia in older adults. A commentator interpreted this correlation to mean that people should do all they can to mitigate hearing loss as soon as it appears so as to reduce the risk of developing dementia.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Research Methods & Statistics"","block_context":{"text":"Research Methods & Statistics","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/rmstats\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":334,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2023\/09\/18\/thinking-critically-about-meghan-markles-advice\/","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":1},"title":"Thinking Critically about Meghan Markle’s advice","author":"dbernstein","date":"September 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This article from the UK's Daily Mail provides an example of a rather questionable stress reduction device as well as an excellent opportunity for your students to think critically about assertions that are likely to carry extra weight because of their association with an international celebrity, Meghan Markle.","rel":"","context":"In "Research Methods & Statistics"","block_context":{"text":"Research Methods & Statistics","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/rmstats\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":387,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/04\/23\/ignore-effect-size-at-your-peril\/","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":2},"title":"Ignore Effect Size at Your Peril","author":"dbernstein","date":"April 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This article in The Economist entitled \u201cRemoving Phones from Classrooms Improves Academic Performance\u201d (https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5370727) has been cited by Chris Ferguson as an example of how ignoring effect sizes can lead to false conclusions. Here is the abstract of the paper, followed by Ferguson\u2019s critique: Widespread smartphone bans are being implemented\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Research Methods & Statistics"","block_context":{"text":"Research Methods & Statistics","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/rmstats\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":158,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2020\/09\/14\/self-fulfilling-prophesies\/","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":3},"title":"Self-Fulfilling Prophesies","author":"dbernstein","date":"September 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In an experiment, men and women in adjoining rooms participated in \"get acquainted\" conversations over an intercom system. Before the conversations took place, the men were shown a photograph of the woman who was supposedly their conversation partner. Some saw a photo of an obese woman while others saw a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Social Psychology"","block_context":{"text":"Social Psychology","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/social\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":385,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2026\/04\/23\/a-creative-research-design-for-studying-the-origins-of-hunger\/","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":4},"title":"A Creative Research Design for Studying the Origins of Hunger","author":"dbernstein","date":"April 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The following example can be used simply to illustrate creative research design but can also be useful in a section or course on motivation to illustrate the role of memory in influencing people\u2019s decisions about when to start and stop eating. Suppose you have just finished a big lunch at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Research Methods & Statistics"","block_context":{"text":"Research Methods & Statistics","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/rmstats\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":330,"url":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/2023\/08\/14\/a-costly-mental-set\/","url_meta":{"origin":279,"position":5},"title":"A Costly Mental Set","author":"dbernstein","date":"August 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the authors had a recent experience that provides an excellent example of how a mental set can lead to poor decision-making, and in this case, considerable expense in time and money. It began when he encountered a problem with his two-year-old desktop computer. At random times, whether he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Thinking and Cognitive Abilities"","block_context":{"text":"Thinking and Cognitive Abilities","link":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/category\/tca\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":280,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions\/280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychexamples.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}