The relationship between confabulation and intellectual ability, memory, interrogative suggestibility and acquiescence

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between confabulation and intellectual ability, memory, suggestibility and acquiescence. A total of 145 subjects completed the WAIS-R, the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale and a measure of acquiescence. Confabulation did not correlate significantly with intellectual ability, verbal memory recall, suggestibility or acquiescence. Importantly, it was found that the two separate components of confabulation—distortions and fabrications—did not correlate significantly with each other. It is recommended that, in future research, distortions and fabrications are scored and analysed separately. The findings have important implications for theories of memory.