Abstract
Source monitoring (SM), the ability to connect memories to specific sources accurately, and to distinguish between reference points for information, is essential in mediating children’s various social and cognitive functions. The accuracy of SM can significantly affect a child’s basic knowledge and assumptions about the world. This review summarizes the scientific literature concerning child SM based on the findings of applied and experimental studies. Specifically, we cover the literature on children’s SM training, targeting strategies, and training methods that influence the accuracy of children’s SM. Based on the source-monitoring framework, we introduce children’s SM performance, with an inherent focus on the underlying mechanisms. Moreover, the development and evaluation of a child’s SM ability are discussed. Finally, we examine studies on children’s SM skill training in terms of applicability, thus revealing challenges and new directions for follow-up studies. This review will be a basis for integrating currently available information and identifying potential topics for further investigation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
Not applicable.
Code Availability
Not applicable.
References
Ackerman, B. P. (1985). Children’s Retrieval Deficit. In C. J. Brainerd, & M. Pressley (Eds.), Basic Processes in Memory Development. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9541-6_1
Alonso-Quecuty, M. (1996). Detecting fact from fallacy in child and adult witness accounts. In G. Davies, S. Lloyd-Bostock, M. McMurran, & C. Wilson (Eds.), Psychology, law, and criminal justice: International developments in research and practice (pp.74–80). Walter de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110879483.74
Anderson, R. E. (1984). Did I do it or did I only imagine doing it? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 113(4), 594–613. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.113.4.594
Anderson, J. R., & Bower, G. H. (1972). Recognition and retrieval processes in free recall. Psychological Review, 79(2), 97–123. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0033773
Brubacher, S. P., Glisic, U., Roberts, K. P., & Powell, M. (2011). Children’s ability to recall unique aspects of one occurrence of a repeated event. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25(3), 351–358. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1696
Benjamin, A. S., & Craik, F. I. M. (2001). Parallel effects of aging and time pressure on memory for source: Evidence from the spacing effect. Memory & Cognition, 29(5), 691–697. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200471
Bjorklund, D. F., & Douglas, R. N. (1997). The development of memory strategies. In N. Cowan (Ed.), The development of memory in childhood (pp. 201–246). Psychology Press/Erlbaum (UK) Taylor & Francis.
Brainerd, C. J., & Reyna, V. F. (1995). Autosuggestibility in memory development. Cognitive Psychology, 28(1), 65–101. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1995.1003
Castel, A. D., & Craik, F. I. M. (2003). The Effects of Aging and Divided Attention on Memory for Item and Associative Information. Psychology and Aging, 18(4), 873–885. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.18.4.873
Crawley, S. L., Newcombe, N. S., & Bingman, H. (2010). How focus at encoding affects children’s source monitoring. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 105(4), 273–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2009.12.003
Dautriche, I., Goupil, L., Smith, K., & Rabagliati, H. (2021). Knowing How You Know: Toddlers Reevaluate Words Learned From an Unreliable Speaker. Open mind: discoveries in cognitive science, 5, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1162/opmi_a_00038
Dodson, C. S., Holland, P. W., & Shimamura, A. P. (1998). On the recollection of specific- and partial-source information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 24(5), 1121–1136. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.24.5.1121
Earhart, B., Lakhani, N., & Roberts, K. P. (2021). Developmental trends in children’s source and destination memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 202, 104995. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104995
Earhart, B., & Roberts, K. P. (2014). The role of executive function in children’s source monitoring with varying retrieval strategies. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 405. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00405
Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (1992). Memory-enhancing techniques for investigative interviewing: The cognitive interview. Charles C Thomas Publisher.
Foley, M. A., Durso, F. T., Wilder, A., & Friedman, R. (1991). Developmental comparisons of explicit versus implicit imagery and reality monitoring. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 51(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0965(91)90074-3
Foley, M. A., & Johnson, M. K. (1985). Confusions between memories for performed and imagined actions: A developmental comparison. Child Development, 56(5), 1145–1155. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130229
Foley, M. A., Johnson, M. K., & Raye, C. L. (1983). Age-related changes in confusion between memories for thoughts and memories for speech. Child Development, 54(1), 51–60. https://doi.org/10.2307/1129860
Foley, M. A., & Ratner, H. H. (1998). Children’s recoding in memory for collaboration: A way of learning from others. Cognitive Development, 13, 91–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2014(98)90022-3
Foley, M. A., Ratner, H. H., & House, A. T. (2002). Anticipation and source-monitoring errors: Children’s memory for collaborative activities. Journal of Cognition and Development, 3(4), 385–414. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327647JCD3,4-02
Giles, J. W., Gopnik, A., & Heyman, G. D. (2002). Source monitoring reduces the suggestibility of preschool children. Psychological Science, 13(3), 288–291. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00453
Gordon, R., Franklin, N., & Beck, J. (2005). Wishful thinking and source monitoring. Memory & Cognition, 33(3), 418–429. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193060
Hashtroudi, S., Johnson, M. K., & Chrosniak, L. D. (1989). Aging and source monitoring. Psychology and Aging, 4(1), 106–112. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.4.1.106
Hashtroudi, S., Johnson, M. K., Vnek, N., & Ferguson, S. A. (1994). Aging and the effects of affective and factual focus on source monitoring and recall. Psychology and Aging, 9(1), 160–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.9.1.160
Hekkanen, S. T., & McEvoy, C. (2002). False memories and source-monitoring problems: Criterion differences. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 16(1), 73–85. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.753
Hoff, E. S. (2016). Young children’s source monitoring and selective learning from problematic individuals. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota]. University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy. https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/182822/Hoff_umn_0130E_17442.pdf?sequence=1
Johnson, M. K. (1983). A multiple-entry, modular memory system. In G. H. Bower (Ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory (17 vol., pp. 81–123). Academic Press.
Johnson, M. K. (1988). Reality monitoring: An experimental phenomenological approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117(4), 390–394. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.117.4.390
Johnson, M. K. (2005). The relation between source memory and episodic memory: Comment on Siedlecki et al. (2005). Psychology and Aging, 20(3), 529–531. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.20.3.529
Johnson, M. K., Foley, M. A., Suengas, A. G., & Raye, C. L. (1988). Phenomenal characteristics of memories for perceived and imagined autobiographical events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117(4), 371–376. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.117.4.371
Johnson, M. K., Hashtroudi, S., & Lindsay, D. S. (1993). Source monitoring. Psychological Bulletin, 114(1), 3–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.114.1.3
Johnson, M. K., & Raye, C. L. (1981). Reality monitoring. Psychological Review, 88(1), 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.88.1.67
Johnson, M. K., Raye, C. L., Hasher, L., & Chromiak, W. (1979). Are there developmental differences in reality-monitoring? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 27(1), 120–128.
Johnson, M. K., & Suengas, A. G. (1989). Reality monitoring judgements of other people’s memories. Bulletin of the Psychonomic society, 27(2), 107–110.
Kanakogi, Y., Moriguchi, Y., Fu, G., Lee, K., & Itakura, S. (2012). How does executive function contribute to source monitoring in young children. Psychologica, 55(3), 194–207. https://doi.org/10.2117/psysoc.2012.194
Kelley, C. M., & Sahakyan, L. (2003). Memory, monitoring, and control in the attainment of memory accuracy. Journal of Memory and Language, 48(4), 704–721. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-596X(02)00504-1
Kovacs, S. L., Hansell, N., & Newcombe, N. S. (2005, April). Preschoolers’ feature memory and binding processes [Poster presentation]. Atlanta, GA: Biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development.
Kovacs, S. L., & Newcombe, N. S. (2006). Developments in source monitoring: The role of thinking of others. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 93(1), 25–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2005.06.006
Lange, G., & Pierce, S. H. (1992). Memory-strategy learning and maintenance in preschool children. Developmental Psychology, 28(3), 453–462. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.28.3.453
Lee, S. (2013). An Overview of children’s Source Monitoring II: Focused on the Characteristics of Sources, Source Judgement, and Individual Differences. The Korean Journal of Forensic Psychology, 4(1), 1–18.
Leichtman, M. D., Morse, M. B., Dixon, A., & Spiegel, R. (2000). Source monitoring and suggestibility: An individual differences approach. In K. P. Roberts, & M. Blades (Eds.), Children’s source monitoring (pp. 257–287). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Lindsay, D. S. (2002). Children’s Source Monitoring. In H. Westcott, G. M. Davies, & R. H. C. Bull (Eds.), Children’s Testimony in Context. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470713679.ch6
Lindsay, D. S. (2013). Memory source monitoring applied. In T. J. Perfect, & D. S. Lindsay (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Applied Memory (pp. 60–75). Sage.
Lindsay, D. S., Gonzales, V., & Eso, K. (1995). Aware and unaware uses of memories of postevent suggestions. In M. Zaragoza, J. Graham, G. Hall, R. Hirschman, & Y. Ben-Porath (Eds.), Memory and Testimony in the Child Witness (pp. 86–108). Sage.
Lindsay, D. S., & Johnson, M. K. (1991). Recognition memory and source monitoring. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 29(3), 203–205. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03342678
Lindsay, D. S., & Johnson, M. K. (2000). False memories and the source monitoring framework: Reply to Reyna and Lloyd (1997). Learning and Individual Differences, 12(2), 145–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1041-6080(01)00035-8
Lindsay, D. S., Johnson, M. K., & Kwon, P. (1991). Developmental changes in memory source monitoring. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 52(3), https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0965(91)90065-Z
Lorsbach, T. (2000). Source monitoring as a framework for conceptualizing the nature of memory difficulties in children with learning disabilities. In K. P. Roberts, & M. Blades (Eds.), Children’s Source Monitoring (pp. 115–146). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Mahr, J. B., Mascaro, O., Mercier, H., & Csibra, G. (2021). The effect of disagreement on children’s source memory performance. Plos One, 16(4), e0249958. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249958
Mammarella, N., & Fairfield, B. (2008). Source monitoring: The importance of feature binding at encoding. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 20(1), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/09541440601112522
Meng, X., Ishii, T., Sugimoto, K., Itakura, S., & Watanabe, K. (2021). Source memory and social exchange in young children.Cognitive Processing, 22(3), 529–537.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-021-01028-3
Mitchell, K. J., & Johnson, M. K. (2009). Source monitoring 15 years later: What have we learned from fMRI about the neural mechanisms of source memory? Psychological Bulletin, 135(4), 638–677. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015849
Moriguchi, Y., & Hiraki, K. (2013). Prefontal cortex and executive function in young children: a review of NIRS studies. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 17, 867. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00867
Poole, D. A., & Lamb, M. E. (1998). Investigative interviews of children: A guide for helping professionals. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10301-000
Poole, D. A., & Lindsay, D. S. (1995). Interviewing preschoolers: Effects of nonsuggestive techniques, parental coaching, and leading questions on reports of nonexperienced events. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 60(1), 129–154. https://doi.org/10.1006/jecp.1995.1035
Poole, D. A., & Lindsay, D. S. (2001). Children’s eyewitness reports after exposure to misinformation from parents. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 7(1), 27–50. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-898X.7.1.27
Poole, D. A., & Lindsay, D. S. (2002). Reducing child witnesses’ false reports of misinformation from parents. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 81(2), 117–140. https://doi.org/10.1006/jecp.2001.2648
Powell, M. B., Roberts, K. P., Ceci, S. J., & Hembrooke, H. H. (1999). The effects of repeated experience on children’s suggestibility. Developmental Psychology, 35(6), 1462–1477. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.35.6.1462
Powell, M., & Thomson, D. (1996). Children’s memory of an occurrence of a repeated event: Effects of age, repetition, and retention interval across three question types. Child Development, 67(5), 1988–2004. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131605
Quas, J. A., Qin, J., Schaaf, J., & Goodman, G. S. (1997). Individual differences in children’s and adults’ suggestibility and false event memory. Learning and Individual Differences, 9(4), 359–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1041-6080(97)90014-5
Ratner, H. H., Foley, M. A., & Gimpert, N. (2000). Person perspectives on children’s memory and learning: What do source-monitoring failures reveal?. In K. P. Roberts, & M. Blades (Eds.), Children’s Source Monitoring (pp. 85–114). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Roberts, K. P. (2002). Children’s ability to distinguish between memories from multiple sources: Implications for the quality and accuracy of eyewitness statements. Developmental Review, 22(3), 403–435. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0273-2297(02)00005-9
Roberts, K. P., & Blades, M. (1995). Children’s discriminations of memories for actual and pretend actions in a hiding task. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 13(4), 321–333. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-835X.1995.tb00683.x
Roberts, K. P., & Blades, M. (1998). The effects of interacting with events on children’s eyewitness memory and source monitoring. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 12(5), 489–503. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0720(199810)12:5<489::AID-ACP535>3.0.CO;2-#
Roberts, K. P., Evans, A. D., & Duncanson, S. (2016). Binding an event to its source at encoding improves children’s source monitoring. Developmental Psychology, 52(12), 2191–2201. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000213
Roberts, K. P., Wood, K. R., & Wylie, B. E. (2021). Children’s ability to edit their memories when learning about the environment from credible and noncredible websites. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 6(1), 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00305-1
Robinson, E. J. (2000). Belief and disbelief: Children’s assessments of the reliability of sources of knowledge about the world. In K. P. Roberts, & M. Blades (Eds.), Children’s Source Monitoring (pp. 59–84). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Schacter, D. L., Kagan, J., & Leichtman, M. D. (1995). True and false memories in children and adults: A cognitive neuroscience perspective. Psychology Public Policy and Law, 1(2), 411–428. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8971.1.2.411
Schneider, W., & Pressley, M. (1997). Memory development between 2 and 20 (2nd ed.). Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203774496
Sluzenski, J., Newcombe, N. S., & Kovacs, S. L. (2006). Binding, relational memory, and recall of naturalistic events: A developmental perspective. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 32(1), 89–100. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.32.1.89
Sprondel, V., Kipp, K. H., & Mecklinger, A. (2011). Developmental Changes in Item and Source Memory: Evidence from an ERP recognition memory study with children, adolescents, and adults. Child Development, 82(6), 1938–1953. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41289892
Suengas, A. G., & Johnson, M. K. (1988). Qualitative effects of rehearsal on memories for perceived and imagined complex events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117(4), 377–389. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.117.4.377
Thierry, K. L. (2009). Practice retrieving source enhances young children’s discrimination of live and story events. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30(4), 552–562. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2008.12.030
Thierry, K. L., Lamb, M. E., Pipe, M. E., & Spence, M. J. (2010). The flexibility of source-monitoring training: Reducing young children’s source confusions. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24(5), 626–644. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1574
Thierry, K. L., & Spence, M. J. (2002). Source-monitoring training facilitates preschoolers’ eyewitness memory performance. Developmental Psychology, 38(3), 428–437. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.38.3.428
Thierry, K. L., Spence, M. J., & Memon, A. (2000). A comparison between fuzzy-trace theory and source-monitoring theory: Evidence from an eyewitness suggestibility study. In K. P. Roberts, & M. Blades (Eds.), Children’s Source Monitoring (pp. 171–196). Erlbaum.
Thierry, K. L., Spence, M. J., & Memon, A. (2001). Before misinformation is encountered: Source monitoring decreases child witness suggestibility. Journal of Cognition and Development, 2(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327647JCD0201_1
Welch-Ross, M. K. (1995). Developmental changes in preschoolers’ ability to distinguish between memories of performed, pretended, and imagined actions. Cognitive Development, 10(3), 421–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/0885-2014(95)90005-5
Welch-Ross, M. K. (2000). A mental-state reasoning model of suggestibility and memory source-monitoring. In K. P. Roberts, & M. Blades (Eds.), Children’s Source Monitoring (pp. 227–256). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Whitcombe, E. L., & Robinson, E. J. (2000). Children’s decisions about what to believe and their ability to report the source of their belief. Cognitive Development, 15(3), 329–346. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2014(00)00033-2
Whittlesea, B. W. A. (2002). False memory and the discrepancy-attribution hypothesis: The prototype-familiarity illusion. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 131(1), 96–115. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.131.1.96
Zaragoza, M. S., & Koshmider, J. W. (1989). Misled subjects may know more than their performance implies. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition, 15(2), 246–255. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.15.2.246
Zaragoza, M. S., & Lane, S. M. (1998). Processing resources and eyewitness suggestibility. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 3(Part 2), 305–320. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8333.1998.tb00368.x
Funding
No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
Ethics approval
This is a review paper. The Konkuk Institutional Review Board has confirmed that no ethical approval is required.
Consent to participate
This is a review paper. No consent to participate required.
Consent for publication
This is a review paper. No consent to publish required.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Lee, S., Shin, M. An overview of source monitoring theory and research regarding children’s training. Curr Psychol 42, 28205–28220 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03730-7
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03730-7