Scoring and Interpretation Guide

A lucid dream is a dream during which you are aware of being in a dream and may involve control of the dream content and events. The Lucid Dream Control Questionnaire (LDCQ) is a scientifically developed assessment tool designed to evaluate different aspects of volitional dream control. The questionnaire contains 36 items that cover seven core domains of dream control: own cognition, own emotion, own body, own movement, dream characters, dream environment, and dream physics.

This document provides instructions for calculating and interpreting LDCQ scores.

Calculating and Understanding Your Score

The LDCQ provides two complementary scores for each domain:

• Dream Control Score: The Dream Control Score reflects your perceived ability to successfully control a particular aspect of your lucid dreams. Scores range from 0 to 1 (0 = no perceived control; 1 = complete perceived control). Higher scores indicate greater perceived dream control ability within that domain.
• Dream Engagement Score: The Dream Engagement Score reflects the breadth of dream control behaviours that you have attempted within a domain. Scores range from 0 to 1 (0 = no engagement; 1 = complete engagement). Higher engagement scores indicated greater breadth and lower scores poorer breadth.

Together, Dream Control and Dream Engagement scores can be visualized as a Dream Control Profile, providing an overview of your lucid dreaming abilities and experiences. An automated scoring tool and profile visualization can be accessed here: Questionnaire.

There are currently no established normative ranges for the LDCQ. Scores should therefore be interpreted relative to other domains within an individual's Dream Control Profile or compared across repeated assessments over time.

Manual Scoring instructions

Alternatively, you can manually calculate the Dream Control and Dream Engagement scores using the instructions below. The LDCQ contains seven domains comprising different numbers of items:

Dream Control Domain	Number of Items
Own Cognition	7
Own Emotion	4
Own Body	5
Own Movement	6
Dream Characters	5
Dream Environment	4
Dream Physics	5

Each item is scored as follows: Responses marked as "N.A." are excluded from scoring and are not treated as 0. If all items of a domain are marked as "N.A.", the control score for that domain cannot be calculated (it is not 0), whereas the engagement score is 0. Selecting "N.A." indicates that you have not attempted that form of dream control.

Calculating the Dream Control Score for each Domain

1. Add together all item scores within that domain. Exclude any items marked as "N.A.". This is your total domain score.
2. Count the number of items you answered within that domain (exclude the "N.A." responses).
3. Divide the total domain score by the number of answered items multiplied by 4.

The resulting Dream Control Score will range from 0 to 1. Higher scores indicate greater perceived dream control ability within that domain, while lower scores indicate lower perceived control

Example

Suppose you answered four items within a domain with scores of: 3, 2, 4, and “N.A.”.

1. Your total domain score is: 3 + 2 + 4 = 9 ("N.A." is excluded from the scoring).
2. The number of items answered is 3 ("N.A." is excluded from the count).
3. The Dream Control Score for that domain is: 9 ÷ (3 x 4) = 9 ÷ 12 = 0.75

This indicates that you successfully achieved 75% of the maximum dream-control score within that domain, suggesting a relatively high level of perceived dream control within that domain.

Calculating the Dream Engagement Score for each Domain

1. Count the number of items within that domain that were not marked as "N.A."
2. Divide this number by the total number of items in that domain.

The resulting Dream Engagement Score will range from 0 to 1. Higher scores indicate that you have attempted a broader range of dream control behaviours within that domain, while lower scores that fewer behaviours have been attempted.

Example

Suppose you answered four items within a domain with scores of: 3, 2, 4, and “N.A.”.

1. Completed items not marked as "N.A." = 3
2. Dream engagement score: 3 ÷ 4 = 0.75

This indicates that you have attempted 75% of the dream control behaviours represented in that domain.

Further Information