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Spanish Adaptation of the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (MCQ)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2015

Joaquín Pegalajar ,
Alberto Acosta ,
Miguel Castillo ,
Lorenzo Higueras  and
José-Luis Padilla
Joaquín Pegalajar*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
Alberto Acosta
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
Miguel Castillo
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
Lorenzo Higueras
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
José-Luis Padilla
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Joaquín Pegalajar. Facultad de Psicología. Universidad de Granada. 18071. Granada (Spain). E-mail: jpchica@ugr.es
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Abstract

The Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (MCQ) was developed by Johnson, Foley, Suengas, and Raye (1988) to assess the characteristics of memories of external and internal origin, postulated in the source monitoring model (Johnson, Hashtroudi, & Lindsay, 1993). The MCQ was translated into Spanish using a back-translation method. Psychometric properties of the translated MCQ were tested using responses collected from an experimental study simulating a forensic context. Ten police officers and 8 psychologists individually interviewed 240 university students who completed the MCQ after reporting what they had seen in a film. Half of the participants were asked to tell the truth, while the other half were asked to lie. The results have shown adequate psychometric properties of the Spanish MCQ items for the total sample and across experimental conditions. Cronbach’s alpha value was .79 for the total sample, .78 for the honest condition, and .76 for the lie condition. Validity evidence of dimensionality supports that the factor structure of Spanish MCQ was equivalent to that proposed by the authors of the original version. Also, a two-factor ANOVA (video clip x condition) was performed to analyze experimental data. Neither interaction effects, F(236) = 1.189; p = .277, nor main effects were found to be significant between those asked to tell the truth and those asked to lie. These results demonstrate that the Spanish MCQ has adequate psychometric properties.

Keywords

Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (MCQ)source monitoringSpanish MCQ
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 18 , 2015 , E101
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2015 

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