When life is but a dream - Does transliminality predict continuity of thought across the sleep-wake cycle

Aug 26, 2026

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People with fantasy proneness and dispositions toward absorption and hypnotizability experience waking thoughts that are especially bizarre or dreamlike. The study examines continuity of thought across the sleep–wake cycle, asking whether the personality trait transliminality—linked to awareness of subliminally presented material—predicts such continuity. In one week of experience sampling, transliminality measured via the Revised Transliminality Scale (RTS) was tested for predicting phenomenological continuity, including bizarreness and waking dreamlike qualities.

LanguageEnglish

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Introduction

The continuity hypothesis

When life is but a dream Does transliminality predict continuity of thought across the sleep-wake cycle? Joshua R. Ortegaa􀁋(joshua_ortega@ucsb.edu) Madeleine E. Grossa􀁋(m.gross@psych.ucsb.edu) Jonathan W. Schoolera􀁋(jonathanwschooler@gmail.com) Abstract People with fantasy proneness and dispositions towards absorption and hypnotizability encounter waking thoughts that are particularly bizarre or dreamlike in nature. This suggests not only a continuity between dreaming and waking thoughts—what we refer to as continuity of thought—but perhaps stable individual differences in continuity of thought. The personality trait transliminality, which has been linked with increased awareness of subliminally-presented material, may underlie these dispositions and thus shows unique promise for predicting continuity of thought. In a sample of undergraduate students, we measured transliminality using the Revised Transliminality Scale (RTS) and then used experience sampling to capture the phenomenological qualities of dreaming and waking thoughts for one week. We examined evidence for continuity of thought across the sleep-wake cycle, examined the connection between transliminality and dreamlike thoughts in wakefulness, and assessed whether transliminality predicts greater overall continuity of thought. Results showed transliminality was unrelated to overall continuity of thought, however further exploratory analyses showed transliminality predicted greater continuity in bizarreness of thought—though this effect did not hold up after controlling for multiple comparisons. Moreover, transliminality was positively associated with waking thoughts that were more bizarre, interesting and novel. Overall, this work advances understanding on how personality may relate to phenomenology of thought, and opens the door for future research to assess how these personality-phenomenology relations may impact wellbeing, creativity, or behavior more generally. Keywords Bizarreness ∙ Continuity ∙ Continuity of thought ∙ Experience sampling ∙ Personality ∙ Phenomenology of thought ∙ Transliminality This article is part ofa special issue on “Dreaming and mind wandering: Spontaneous thought across the sleep-wake cycle,” edited by Thomas Andrillon, Manuela Kirberg, and Jennifer Windt. a University of California Santa Barbara. Ortega, J. R., Gross, M. E., & Schooler, J. W. (2025) . When life is but a dream: Does transliminality predict continuity of thought across the sleep-wake cycle?. Philosophy and the Mind Sciences, 6. [https://doi.org/10.33735/phimisci.2025.10272](https://doi.org/10.33735/phimisci.2025.10272) ©The author(s) . [https://philosophymindscience.org](https://philosophymindscience.org) ISSN: 2699-0369 1 Introduction The bizarre and dissociative qualities of dreams suggest they are distinct from everyday waking life. But is this true for everyone or is the line that separates dreaming from wakefulness especially fuzzy for some people? To tackle these questions, we examined individuals’ thoughts in dreaming and wakefulness, and looked at similarities between these states as a function of transliminality—a personality characteristic which converging evidence suggests underlies anomalous or dreamlike waking thoughts. 1.1 The continuity hypothesis A long standing line of research has noted a crossover between the personal concerns present in individuals’ waking life and their dreams, an idea formally expressed as the continuity hypothesis (Domhoff, 1996) . Classic examples of continuity may be the appearance in one’s dreams of a recent argument, an upcoming exam, or other distressing events from waking life. Key to the traditional notion of continuity is that it involves spill over of specific objects, people, events or activities—what might be called the contents of consciousness—from waking life into dreaming. Differing subtly from the notion of continuity as concerning the contents of consciousness, other research focuse

FAQs

What does the study mean by “continuity of thought” across the sleep-wake cycle?

It refers to whether and how thoughts maintain continuity between dreaming and waking. The paper frames continuity in terms of content spillover, phenomenology of thought, and shared neurophysiological processes.

How was transliminality measured and what was the study procedure?

Transliminality was measured using the Revised Transliminality Scale (RTS). Participants then used experience sampling for one week to capture phenomenological qualities of both dreaming and waking thoughts.

Does transliminality predict overall continuity of thought and dreamlike experiences when awake?

Transliminality was not related to overall continuity of thought. However, it was associated with waking thoughts that were more bizarre, interesting, and novel, and it predicted greater continuity in bizarreness only in exploratory analyses that did not survive multiple-comparison controls.

Aug 26, 2026

Upload by Miles