Differentiating accounts of actual, suggested and fabricated childhood events using the Judgment of Memory Characteristics Questionnaire.

Statement analysis procedures are used in forensic settings to classify reported events as experienced or non-experienced. These procedures are typically validated using accounts of actual events and intentionally fabricated events. However, people can also unintentionally develop false memories. To examine whether inclusion of accounts of suggested events affects classification accuracy, we validated the judgment of memory characteristics questionnaire (JMCQ) statement analysis procedure using all three statement types. Participants attempted to recall two actual events and one suggested event from their childhood over two cognitive interviews, then intentionally fabricated an account of another childhood event. Fourteen of the 34 participants (41%) reported having experienced the suggested event. Independent raters then used the JMCQ to analyse and classify each type of statement from this participant subset. Inclusion of accounts of suggested events did not reduce classification accuracy. Raters tended to classify accounts of both fabricated and suggested events as non-experienced.