Read the given story and classify it as 'imagined', 'recalled', or 'retold'. If a story is imagined, the person who wrote the story is making it up, pretending they experienced it. If a story is recalled, the person who wrote the story really experienced it and is recalling it from memory. If a story is retold, it is a real memory like the 'recalled' stories, but written down much later after previously writing a 'recalled' story about the same events. So, recalled stories and retold stories will be fairly similar, in that they both were real experiences for the writer. Imagined stories have a more linear flow and contain more commonsense knowledge, whereas recalled stories are less connected and contain more specific concrete events. Additionally, higher levels of self reference are found in imagined stories. Between recalled and retold stories, retold stories flow significantly more linearly than recalled stories, and retold stories are significantly higher in scores for cognitive processes and positive tone.
One example is below.
Q: Concerts are my most favorite thing, and my boyfriend knew it. That's why, for our anniversary, he got me tickets to see my favorite artist. Not only that, but the tickets were for an outdoor show, which I love much more than being in a crowded stadium. Since he knew I was such a big fan of music, he got tickets for himself, and even a couple of my friends. He is so incredibly nice and considerate to me and what I like to do. I will always remember this event and I will always cherish him. On the day of the concert, I got ready, and he picked me up and we went out to a restaurant beforehand. He is so incredibly romantic. He knew exactly where to take me without asking. We ate, laughed, and had a wonderful dinner date before the big event. We arrived at the concert and the music was so incredibly beautiful. I loved every minute of it. My friends, boyfriend, and I all sat down next to each other. As the music was slowly dying down, I found us all getting lost just staring at the stars. It was such an incredibly unforgettable and beautiful night.
A: imagined
Rationale: This is a good example because it really was an imagined story. The attributes that should tip you off are that the story is light on concrete events (they describe things in broad terms such as going to a restaurant and being at the stadium, but nothing specific about who was exactly where and anything specifically notable someone said or did) and heavy on references to the writer themselves and their internal feelings (they frequently repeat how much they loved it, how romantic they felt, how they cherished the night, etc). It's also very linear and structured, pointing to this being an imagined story. Additionally, the events and feelings described seem a little romanticized or idealized beyond what is usually a realistic circumstance.
Q: A situation that comes to mind as one that was striking and memorable happened around 2 weeks ago. I was relaxing at home, and my fiancee was in our bedroom watching TV. She called me into the room, telling me she had to show me something. I was expecting it to be a funny picture of our cat, or a video she found that I would be interested in. Instead, when I walked into the bedroom she handed me a home pregnancy test. She told me she was pregnant, she had just taken the test and wanted to tell me right away. I was so surprised. We were not really trying to get pregnant, but we were so excited right away. I couldn't believe that this was a journey we were going to start taking together. Later that night, we spent a long time sitting and talking about everything. We went over some decisions we are going to have to make for our baby, and how we would make them. She asked me for help finding a doctor and getting an appointment set up. This was all stuff that would have normally been so boring, but it wasn't. It was for our baby, so we were having fun even figuring out insurance things. Everything went by so fast, and I kept feeling more and more excited about the situation and everything that is yet to come.
A:
recalled