Calvin S. Hall

Calvin Springer Hall, Jr. (January 18, 1909 – April 4, 1985 ) was an American psychologist who studied in the fields of dream research and analysis. He began his systematic research on dreams in the 1940s, and from there he wrote many books, A Primer of Freudian Psychology and A Primer of Jungian Psychology being the best known, and developed a quantitative content analysis system for dreams. Hall's work on temperament and behavior genetics is now only a historical footnote, but was an aid to scientific studies and theories of today.

College Hall was born in Seattle, Washington. He first studied psychology at the University of Washington as an undergraduate, working with a well-known behaviorist, Edwin Guthrie. He transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, his senior year because of his opposition of the ROTC course required at Washington. At Berkeley he studied with a purposive behaviorist, Edward Tolman, and received his BA in 1930, continuing on there as a graduate student with Tolman and Robert Tryon, earning his PhD in 1933.

Theory In 1953, Hall developed a cognitive theory of dreams. This theory states "dreams express 'conceptions' of self, family members, friends, and social environment. They reveal such conceptions as 'weak,' 'assertive,' 'unloved,' 'domineering,' and 'hostile'." For example, if one has a dream of being attacked by friends, this may be a manifestation of fear of friendship. This is only true of latent dream content (the underlying meaning of the dream), not manifest dream content (the actual literal subject-matter of the dream).

Concept of Others

Concept of others refers to the way the dreamer perceives others. If the dreamer perceives his mother to be nurturing, then in the dreamer's dreams, his mother will be portrayed as nurturing. Likewise, if the dreamer perceives a friend to be selfish, then in the dream that friend will behave in a selfish manner.

Concept of the World

Concept of the world refers to the dreamer's view on the world. This concept is also constantly changing, because it is dependent on the dreamer's current life situation. It varies depending on his mood. If the dreamer believes the world is filled with nothing but stress, problems, and agitation, then the dream will portray hostile environments. These hostile environments can include thunderstorms and traffic jams. Furthermore, if the dreamer is thinking about the winter season, then he may dream about snow, ice, and cold weather.

Concept of Impulses, Prohibitions, and Penalties

Concept of impulses, prohibitions, and penalties refers to what the dreamer believes mankind is allowed to do, as well as what mankind is prohibited from doing. The dreamer will have a dream with some type of problematic situation, or obstacle. Within the dream, he will have impulses, or urges, to do something. The manner in which the dreamer overcomes that obstacle in order to fulfill his urge reveals what the dreamer believes is allowed and what is prohibited. If he believes something is okay to do, then the dreamer will do whatever that is in order to fix the problem and fulfill his urge. However, if the dreamer wants to do something that will overcome the obstacle, but believes it to be prohibited, then the dreamer will not do that action.

Written works Year Title Subject 1938 "The Inheritance of Emotionality," Sigma Xi Quarterly, 26, 17-27 animal temperament 1947 "Genetic Differences in Fatal Audiogenetic Seizures between Two Inbred Strains of House Mice," Journal of Heredity, 38, 2-6 genetic basis of audiogenetic seizures in mice 1949 "The Genetics of Audiogenetic Seizures in the House Mouse," Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 42, 58-63 genetic basis of audiogenetic seizures in mice 1951 "The Genetics of Behavior," The Handbook of Experimental Psychology, edited by S. S. Stevens temperament and genetics 1947 "Diagnosing Personality by the Analysis of Dreams," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 42, 68-79 first important article on dreams 1951 "What People Dream About," Scientific American, 184, 60-63 first report of quantitative findings 1951 Handbook of Experimental Psychology Hall was the author of one chapter 1953 "A Cognitive Theory of Dreams," Journal of General Psychology, 49, 273-282 highly original theoretical article on dreams 1953 The Meaning of Dreams 1953 "A Cognitive Theory of Dream Symbols," Journal of General Psychology, 48, 169-186 metaphoric theory of dream symbols 1954 A Primer of Freudian Psychology 1957 Theories of Personality 1966 The Content Analysis of Dreams coding system co-authored with Robert Van de Castle 1970 Dreams, Life, and Literature Kafka 1971 Personality of a Child Molester the child molester 1972 The Individual and His Dreams 1973 A Primer of Jungian Psychology 1994 Our Dreaming Mind, by Robert Van de Castle overview of Hall's work by his collaborator 1996 Finding Meaning in Dreams: A Quantitative Approach all reliable findings with the Hall/Van de Castle coding system by G. William Domhoff 1987 "Calvin Springer Hall (1909-1985)," American Psychologist, 42, 185 appreciation of Hall and his work by long-time friend and co-author, Gardner Lindzey.

Personal life His wife, Irene Hannah Sanborn, from whom he had separated, died before him. He died in Santa Cruz County, California in 1985 at the age of 76 of cancer. They had one child.