http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source-monitoring_error
According to Johnson, Source Monitoring Error is when the brain incorrectly attributes the source of a memory to the memory itself. This can occur for many reasons: when the brain's encoding process is disrupted by either stress, depression, drug and alcohol abuse, distractions, etc... OR because the brain is limited in its ability to encode information properly because it is not yet fully developed (i.e. childhood). Our brains encode information in two ways, heuristic (automatic) judgements, and systematic (analytic) judgements. There are also 3 different types of source monitoring errors: internal, external, and reality. Internal monitoring errors apply to the individual's inability to correctly conjure memories about their own experiences. Whereas external monitoring errors, in contrast, refer to the individual's inability to correctly remember information about events outside of themselves. Reality monitoring errors are when the individual is unable to determine between internal and external memories.
An example of this would be dreaming something and then waking up and thinking it actually happened.
-Elysia
5 comments:
When I was reading about this, it sort of reminded me of the studies done with the Challenger, since a lot of the people started to especially forget how they found out about the incident over time. If source-monitoring has to do with misinterpreting whether a memory came from reality or a made-up story or dream, I think this might be the source of some alien-abduction stories. I myself have had strange dreams were I thought I was awake and being held down by some unseen force (and it’s terribly scary when it’s happening, let me tell you), but I realize it was all a dream when I actually force myself to wake up. Since a dream like that is extremely vivid, I can certainly see how some people would truly believe that it actually happened.
This is going to sound like a very strange response, and a very unscientific one, but.... I just saw Liam Neison's new movie "unknown", and it completely circulates around an adaptation of source monitoring.
I may ruin the plot if you do plan on seeing it, but he Hits his head in an automobile accident and thought the secret agent case he was completely was his real life..... Sounds corny but it was very good.
He struggles with proving who he thinks he really is, almost dies, blah blah blah... but in comparison with Elysia's Article it was a perfect example of the dangers of Source monitoring, specifically being External and Reality Source Monitoring....
He was struck by something that made him believe in a false identity, and then got so lost that he had the inability to know the difference....
pretttty coool....
-Francesca
I remember something from my childhood that I still can't figure out if it was a dream or not. I was in a car with my mom and grammy, and we were driving on something that looked like a boardwalk, but with storefronts on both sides and above a section of them was what looked like those play tubes from McDonalds' play places. It was probably a dream, but I still remember it vividly for how long ago it was. I actually just had an experience last week where I had a fairly realistic dream about the happenings of a particular night (I forget which day) and now I'm not entirely sure what was part of my dream or what actually happened. Crazy stuff.
-Taylor
One part that struck me in this was the part that said discriminating of what one said versus one what thought in a situation, because so often when I retell a story of dialogue, I present what I was thinking about the situation, or what I think currently about the situation, rather than the exchange I actually had. I am aware of the difference, but I can never quite bring back up what I actually said, though I can more accurately remember what the other person said. Also, I know it's not quite the same topic as source monitoring, but the part about realizing that the person you're about to tell the joke to is the person that told you the joke reminded me of some people that happen to tell the same story repeatedly without realizing that they've already told it, like they have forgotten they are the own source. There are all sorts of events in my childhood that may or may not be true, some of them even traumatic (one memory has given me the fear of ants, but my family can't say whether or not it's true). Dreams have the ability to be perceived through our senses still, or at least we think they do, so it makes sense that we can adopt them into our memories, but it's very strange.
Yeah this topic and reading was definitely interesting to read. The dreams definitely made me think of some particular situations. 2 years ago I quit smoking and was used the drug Chantix to help me quit (btw it works like crazy, definitely try it if you want to quit smoking!) but one of the side effects was extremely bizarre, vivid dreams. I would wake up in the morning and while most people forget the intricate details of their dreams almost immediately, I could tell you every single point of my dream like a day or two later sometimes. But there were times that those dreams were so so vivid that days later I would remember it and couldn't figure out if it actually happened, or if it was just a dream. I literally had to sit there and think really hard, and to this day, there are some that I still don't know which they were. (Of course that only went for the more realistic dreams)
Also-when I was looking at internal-external reality monitoring example from a different source, they gave an example of asking someone if they imagined a plane crashing into a building, or did they see the plane crash into the building on the news..
it basically is talking about internally derived sources and externally retrieved sources.
However...the reason I brought it up is because I just thought about our discussion in class that one day about 9/11 and Rebecca's research from school, and the questionnaire she gave out to people. I just thought that was interesting. It seems like everything always winds up relating to one another.
-Alexandra
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