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The psychoanalytic theory of dream interpretation and the psychoanalytic theory of dreaming are differentiated in terms of their respective achievements, conceptual properties, and implications for research. Four specific lines of contrast are drawn between these two approaches to the study of dreams: (1) their social significances, (2) their immediate purposes, (3) their criteria of validity, and (4) their relations to each other. Lack of clarity on these points is
shown to lead in dream psychology to reifying the interpretive concept of "latent content," and to overgeneralizing the interpretive principle of "dream distortion"; and in dream interpretation, to misapplying the wish-fulfillment hypothesis. The care with which Freud sought to maintain these distinctions, and some instances in which he failed to do so, are noted throughout. The tendency to overlook the distinctions is seen to stem from Freud's commitment to perfecting an improved method of dream interpretation while simultaneously laying the foundation for a psychology of dreaming. The proper relation of all methods of dream interpretation to dream psychology is judged to be purely heuristic.