Source-Monitoring Error
A source-monitoring error happens when someone remembers information but attributes it to the wrong source. A person might recall an object seen in virtual reality and think it was in a physical room. The error concerns the origin of the recollection; it does not necessarily mean that every remembered detail is false.
Term statusEstablished Concept
A concept used in academic or professional literature. This label does not mean every claim about it is settled. About these labels.
Evidence for the claims on this page: Experimental evidence within defined tasks
Source errors occur in the cited VR task. The sample and tested objects do not determine a general error rate for everyday life.
How to read this assessmentWhat it is
A source-monitoring error occurs when a mental experience is attributed to an incorrect source, context, modality, or agent. (Johnson et al., 1993)
In everyday language
You remember something, but mix up where it came from.
What it isn't
It does not necessarily mean the entire memory is false.
An example
You remember moving an object but mistake an action performed in virtual reality for one performed in a physical room.
Key features
- Memory content may be retained
- Origin is assigned incorrectly
- Can involve internal, external, real, or mediated sources
How it relates to synthetic imprinting
A source error is one possible explanation for confusion after synthetic experiences. It does not show that a new, separate memory mechanism exists.
Research context
Studied within source-monitoring and reality-monitoring research. (Johnson et al., 1993; Bonnail et al., 2024)
A closer look at the cited studies
| Research question | Do people confuse the physical and virtual origins of remembered objects? |
|---|---|
| Participants | 29 participants at the first memory test; 28 at the second. |
| Design and comparison | Participants encountered objects across 20 tasks, half in a physical environment and half in VR. Source-identification tests and interviews examined their judgments. |
| Measured findings | Source errors occurred. Participants described using remembered perceptual cues and assumptions about what VR could render to identify an object’s origin. |
| Timing and follow-up | Source-identification tests took place one and two weeks after the initial session. |
| Limits on interpretation | A small study of specified environments and objects does not establish universal confusion, indefinite persistence, or personality change. |
Related terms
Sources and what they support
- Source Monitoring — Marcia K. Johnson, Shahin Hashtroudi, D. Stephen Lindsay (1993). Psychological Bulletin, 114(1), 3–28.
Peer-reviewed review. Develops the source-monitoring framework for understanding how people attribute memories and information to origins.
- Was It Real or Virtual? Confirming the Occurrence and Explaining Causes of Memory Source Confusion Between Reality and Virtual Reality — Elise Bonnail, Julian Frommel, Eric Lecolinet, Samuel Huron, Jan Gugenheimer (2024). Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Peer-reviewed research. Investigates errors in recalling whether objects were encountered in physical or virtual environments.
Cite this definition
SyntheticImprinting.com Editorial Project. (2026-09-27). Source-Monitoring Error. Version 1.4. SyntheticImprinting.com. https://syntheticimprinting.com/terms/source-monitoring-error/
APA: SyntheticImprinting.com. (2026). Source-Monitoring Error. https://syntheticimprinting.com/terms/source-monitoring-error/
MLA: “Source-Monitoring Error.” SyntheticImprinting.com, 2026, https://syntheticimprinting.com/terms/source-monitoring-error/. Accessed November 12, 2026.
Chicago: SyntheticImprinting.com. “Source-Monitoring Error.” Last modified 2026-09-27. https://syntheticimprinting.com/terms/source-monitoring-error/.
Revision history
- Version 1.4 · Current
Added claim-level citations and a separate assessment of evidence support. The opening definition is unchanged.
Read this version’s definition
A source-monitoring error happens when someone remembers information but attributes it to the wrong source. A person might recall an object seen in virtual reality and think it was in a physical room. The error concerns the origin of the recollection; it does not necessarily mean that every remembered detail is false.
- Version 1.3
Expanded the opening definition; added explicit boundaries, source context, related-term cards, and linked editorial attribution.
Read the previous definition
A source-monitoring error happens when someone remembers information but attributes it to the wrong source. A person might recall an object seen in virtual reality and think it was in a physical room. The error concerns the origin of the recollection; it does not necessarily mean that every remembered detail is false.
- Version 1.2
Definition recorded in the previous release. Earlier edits are not reconstructed here.
Read the previous definition
A source-monitoring error happens when someone remembers information but attributes it to the wrong source.
What the status means
Established Concept
A concept used in academic or professional literature. This label does not mean every claim about it is settled.
How evidence labels workHelp improve this entry
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