Which of the following statements best fits the continual-activation theory of dreaming?

• A. Dreaming occurs only during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and is unrelated to memory.
• B. Dreams are the result of suppressed desires emerging during sleep.
• C. Dreaming serves to maintain memory processing by keeping the brain partially active during sleep.
• D. Dreams are random byproducts of neural activity with no functional purpose.

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the continual-activation theory of dreaming, which suggests that dreaming serves a functional purpose related to brain activity during sleep, particularly in maintaining memory processing.
2. Step 2: Review each statement carefully and identify key concepts: whether dreaming is limited to REM sleep, whether it relates to suppressed desires, whether it serves memory processing, or if it is random neural activity without purpose.
3. Step 3: Recognize that the continual-activation theory emphasizes the brain's partial activation during sleep to support memory consolidation, rather than dreaming being confined only to REM sleep or being purely random.
4. Step 4: Compare the statements to the theory's core idea that dreaming helps maintain memory processing by keeping the brain active, which aligns with the statement about dreaming serving to maintain memory processing.
5. Step 5: Conclude that the statement best fitting the continual-activation theory is the one highlighting dreaming's role in memory processing through partial brain activation during sleep.