In this article about this paper by a philosophy professor from the University of California, the idea is put forward that the notion that we dream in black and white was influenced by the media of the time that the studies were taking place, a time primarily of black-and-white moving image and television.
Recent studies have concluded that sometimes we may dream in colour. The paper puts forward the possibility that dreams are neither colored nor black and white, that applying either of these categories is misleading.
"I advocate the view that we don't know our own experiences nearly as well as we think we do. I have advocated this position not only for dreams, but also for auditory experience and for visual imagery"
"If one is reading the novel quickly, one may not have time to piece together a completely colored scene in one’s imagination. It does not seem that my imagination, at least, is that rich, that novels play before my mind with all the details of a color movie. If you find yourself disinclined to think that novels, or the images evoked by novels, are properly described as being either in black and white or in full color,then you might likewise find yourself hesitant to apply the terms ‘black and white’ or ‘colored’ to dreams."
