As discussed in this thread:
[url]Lucid Dreaming / Stream of Consciousness in Children], I have posted below my article review on the development of beliefs around the controllability of dreams.
Development of Beliefs About the Origins and Controllability of Dreams
Jacqueline D. Woolley and Elizabeth A. Borger
Purpose
The purpose of this research, which was conducted by Woolley & Boerger (2002), was to investigate the development of belief as to the controllability and origins of dreams, and to distinguish the ages at which changes in beliefs seem to take place.
Methodology
Three studies were carried out to investigate the periods of development of belief in controllability, ranging from ages 3-5, pre-school age and elementary school age, as well as adulthood. There were three separate groups divided by age. Methodology in each study was comprehensive, with the children being individually interviewed to avoid leading of other participants. The survey approach was used to acquire information on beliefs surrounding origins of dreams and controllability, and was an appropriate method to use to gain information on personal beliefs. Different questions were put to each participant, detailing a scenario in which the participant was required to describe why the character behaved in a certain way, and what the character was thinking at that point in time. This allowed the researchers to understand the degree of understanding the participants had about others beliefs, and how this may have influence on the participants.
The method of research was utilised with care, ensuring that each participant was questioned separately and that a sufficient number of questions were asked to rule out most other possibilities.
Participants
The sample of participants consisted of a diverse variety of children from different socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds, though predominantly white middle and upper class families. This is a little unfortunate and not sufficiently representative of the diversity of the population, and may not produce results that can be generalised. It has been suggested in other research (Jennie et al. 2005) that dream content, recall or controllability may be considerably influenced by cultural factors.
The children were selected from a database on birth announcements as well as from a day camp program, where as the adult participants became involved through their undergraduate study and received credit for participation. The sample of children could be argued to be sufficiently diverse, however it may be questioned what commonality is shared between children who were retrieved from the day camp (if any).
Repeatability
The results show that emotional content often affected the claims of belief in controllability and confirm results obtained by Flavell and Lillard (1992), which show these results to be repeatable. Results revealed not only that children went through developmental stages in belief at the ages of 3, 5, 8 and 11, but also that they considered both dreams and imagination to be highly controllable (Woolley & Boerger, 2002). An interesting addition to the findings in this study were that female participants were more likely to believe in the controllability of dream content, though no explanation could be found for this finding.
Conclusions
This study suggests that beliefs in the controllability of dreams essentially decrease with age, and that this is due to the mental and emotional development in children between the ages of 3 to adulthood. This data is supportive of what is known about belief development in children (Lillard & Flavell, 1992). The difference in belief of controllability between adult males and females was shown, and essentially remains unexplained, though a number of theories pertaining to physiological differences and cultural upbringing were put forward.
The study concludes that the development of belief is dependant on mental and emotional development and does not take into account the alternative possibility that young children may experience greater control over dream content, also known as ‘lucid dreaming’ (LaBerge & Rheingold, 1990). Had this possibility been considered, a more experimental approach might have been achieved.
References
Jennie, Oskar, G., O’Connor, & Bonnie B. (2005). Children’s sleep: an interplay between culture and biology. Pediatrics, Vol. 115, 204-217. Retrieved April 5 2005, from PsycARTICLES Database.
LaBerge, S. & Rheingold, H. (1990). Exploring the world of lucid dreams.
Lavie, F. & Hobson, A. (1986). Origin of dreams. Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 100, No. 2, 229-240. Retrieved March 31, 2005, from PsycARTICLES database.
Lillard, S. & Flavell, J. (1992). Young children’s understanding of different mental states. Developmental Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 4. Retrieved April 6, 2005, from PsycARTICLES database.
Woolley, J. & Boerger, E. (2002). Development of beliefs about the origins and controllability of dreams. Developmental Psychology, Vol. 38, No. 1, 24-41. Retrieved March 28 2005, from PsycARTICLES Database.
Very interesting article, Snape! 
It confirms an impression I had when I’m discussing about LD’s with girls. A lot of them very easily control their dreams (though these are not LD’s, i.e. they control their dreams without knowing they are dreaming, or without a dramatical increase of awareness). So it seems that something which disappears when male become adult persists with female dreamers.
Also explains why I’ve seen more females on these message boards alone then on any other message boards. Though that could probably be because I hang around gaming message boards, but still.
I’m glad you found it useful 
It does make me wonder though, whether this is due to genetic or environmental factors.