There are many aspects of life which require us to distinguish between memories of different events, such as deciding whether you locked the door or only intended to lock the door. Source monitoring, or identifying the source of a particular memory (was the event experienced? related by someone else? or simply imagined?) is a cognitive skill that develops across the life span. In this book, the first to integrate research on children's source monitoring, readers will find an accessible overview of source-monitoring theory and findings from the research programs of leading investigators in this area. The programs of research cut across different methodologies (e.g., nomothetic, individual differences, clinical) and are applied to a wide range of issues in children's lives. Particular emphasis is placed on the effects of source monitoring on eyewitness memory and identification, learning and knowledge, and the development of a theory of mind.

Contents: Preface. K.P. Roberts, Introduction: Children's Source Monitoring. K.P. Roberts, An Overview of Theory and Research on Children's Source Monitoring. E.J. Robinson, Belief and Disbelief: Children's Assessments of the Reliability of Sources of Knowledge About the World. H.H. Ratner, M.A. Foley, N. Gimpert, Person Perspectives on Children's Memory and Learning: What Do Source-Monitoring Failures Reveal? T.C. Lorsbach, Source Monitoring as a Framework for Conceptualizing the Nature of Memory Difficulties in Children With Learning Disabilities. K.P. Roberts, M. Blades, Discriminating Between Memories of Television and Real Life. K.L. Thierry, M.J. Spence, A. Memon, A Comparison Between Fuzzy-Trace Theory and Source-Monitoring Theory: Evidence From an Eyewitness Suggestibility Study. J.A. Quas, J.M. Schaaf, K.W. Alexander, G.S. Goodman, Do You Really Remember It Happening or Do You Only Remember Being Asked About It Happening? Children's Source Monitoring in Forensic Contexts. M. Welch-Ross, A Mental-State Reasoning Model of Suggestibility and Memory Source Monitoring. M.D. Leichtman, M.B. Morse, A. Dixon, R. Spiegel, Source Monitoring and Suggestibility: An Individual Differences Approach. M.A. Foley, H.J. Foley, K. Cormier, The Study of Developmental Differences in Face Identification Accuracy as Instances of Source-Monitoring Judgments. K.P. Roberts, Conclusions: Children's Source Monitoring.