Psychologist: Some psychologists mistakenly argue that because dreams result from electrical discharges in the brain...

SamA on September 30, 2019

Hello @AmMaSu,

Premise 1: Some psychologists mistakenly argue that dreams must be understood purely in terms of physiological function.

Premise 2: They conclude, against Freud, that dreams reveal nothing about the character of the dreamer.

The line with "dream content varies enormously" basically says that, even if electrical discharges explain the physical cause of dreams, this is not a complete explanation of dreaming. This is a direct challenge to premise 1, and especially the word "purely."

Premise 1 is given as support for the conclusion in premise 2, which is the statement against Freud. This is why the variation of dream content is best represented by answer choice E. Remember to carefully follow the structure of the argument for this type of question.

The only thing we can rightfully say about Freud, is that he believed that dreams contained information about a person's character. The passage draws no conclusion about Freud's ability to completely explain the phenomenon of dreaming, which is why C is incorrect.