When belief shapes narrative: Exploring discursive differences between believed and nonbelieved memories.

A “nonbelieved memory” (NBM) refers to an autobiographical memory that is no longer believed to represent an event that actually took place, despite a vivid recollection of the event. NBM can be categorised into three distinct subtypes – "classic", "weak" and "grain of doubt" – depending on the level of recollection and autobiographical belief. While previous studies have focused on the characteristics of NBMs and those of the people who have them, this study breaks new ground by examining how these memories are reported in comparison to classic autobiographical memories (i.e., BMs, for believed memories). Specifically, we wanted to investigate potential differences between the two types of memory while taking into account the three categories of NBM that can be reported. To this end, we re-analysed data from participants who had described both an NBM and a BM from approximately the same period in their lives. The content of the narratives was analysed using the LIWC software, which extracts standard linguistic markers and discursive markers related to psychological processes. In this study, we focused on self-referential, perceptual, contextual and cognitive features in the narratives. The results showed that, regardless of the type of NBM reported by the participants, NBM and BM narratives differ in terms of length, tenses used, self-referential and cognitive features, but not in terms of perceptual and contextual features. This suggests that changes in autobiographical beliefs shape narrative content.