Narratives distinguish experienced from imagined childhood events

Abstract

The present study extends the reality monitoring framework by examining whether a portion of the phenomenal characteristics by which perceived and imagined events are theorized to differ appear in event narratives at different rates. The study analyzed the narratives of childhood events that participants either reportedly experienced or denied experiencing but imagined. Two types of events were included: emotional and neutral. In comparison to imagined events, participants' narratives of experienced childhood events were lengthier and contained a greater percentage of words indicative of cognitive processes. Imagined events contained a greater percentage of emotion words. There were no significant differences in perceptual processes. In some cases the findings differed significantly across the emotional and neutral events. This study provides the first available evidence that memory characteristics extend to narratives and thereby distinguish experienced from imagined childhood events.