A predictive approach to the study of manifest content in suicide notes.

Involved the deduction of 30 protocol sentences; 10 each for the theories of Binswanger, Freud, and Kelly. Naive judges noted the incidence of contents that corresponded to the protocol sentences in 33 genuine and 33 simulated notes. A coefficient of concordance of .70 indicated adequate interjudge reliability. Only the protocol sentences derived from Freud discriminated as a set in favor of the genuine notes. Statements that indicated loss and an identification with a lost person were found more frequently in genuine notes. Statements of isolation, immaturity and desires for freedom more frequently characterized the simulated notes. Implications of the results are discussed.