A review of source memory research in the source monitoring paradigm

Abstract

Research on source memory in the source monitoring paradigm was reviewed and discussed. The author analyzed three factors contributing to the current upsurge of source memory research: (a) a basic theoretical framework and a basic experimental paradigm for source monitoring were established by Johnson and her collaborators, (b) source monitoring tasks were a more sensitive measure than recall and recognition tasks to assess one's explicit memory among different populations, and (c) the source monitoring paradigm is so flexible and versatile to design a variety of experiments. Further studies are necessary for the paradigm to find a better way of analyzing data and to verify its premises. Regardless of these problems, however, the author predicted a further explosion of source memory research in the paradigm because it would give us a hint of an underlying mechanism of how memory is processed.