¶ … Dreams
The theory of wish fulfillment was put forth by Freud to explain the purpose of dreams as fulfilling unconscious needs. Activation-synthesis theory was created by Hobson and McCarley and suggests that dreams are the effect of the neural activation that produces brain waves during REM sleep. The cortex is supposed to synthesize a dream in order to make sense of these signals. In the end, the dream is interpreted by using individual memory.
I would rather agree with the psychoanalytic theory because it reinforces the psychological aspect involved in dreams' explanation. Hobson and McCarley reinforce rather the physiological aspect related to dreams, in the form of unspecific neural activation. On the other hand, psychoanalytical theory of dreams suggests that dreams are a valid psychic phenomenon involving a wish fulfillment. According to the psychoanalytic model the unconscious contains repressed wishes that strive constantly for discharge, while the ego permanently repressed the materialization of these wishes. Therefore, they find the form and express themselves in dreams. Although the psychoanalytic theory has not been validated, the explanation it puts forth describes accurately a certain category of dreams; for instance, those regarding basic physiological needs: e.g. If one eats something salty it is possible to have a dream involving drinking water.
On the other hand, though Hobson and McCarley put forth a model that has been validated empirically to a certain extent, their theory gives a nonspecific explanation in that it refers to a general level of neural activation which generates dreams; the synthesis part involves the integration of disparate sensory, motor, and emotional elements by making use of memory integrated events which allow interpretation. Their model is too general and unspecific, while the Freudian theory suggest a complex process with several stages and different significance attached to them.
Freud's theory offers a deeper insight into the quality of dreams by reinforcing their meaningfulness, their role (they are the manifestation of repressed wishes), and, most importantly, Freud emphasizes that dreams are a particular condition of thinking, fact that was taken into consideration by his followers.
References
Chapter 4
http://occonline.occ.cccd.edu/online/cbasile/So.%20Ch%204%20N.htm
