Source monitoring: The importance of feature binding at encoding

This paper is based on the source monitoring framework (Johnson, Hashtroudi, & Lindsay, 1993) and provides a review of data that suggests the involvement of working memory encoding processes in source monitoring tasks. Source monitoring refers to diverse mental processes used to distinguish the origin of our memories. A key assumption is that, when people encode an event, component processes of working memory play a crucial role in maintaining and binding the various features (e.g., semantic, perceptual) of an event together. It follows that success on a working memory binding test should be a good predictor of proficiency on a long-term source monitoring task, and that individual differences in working memory binding ability should account for the different pattern of source monitoring errors. Interestingly, these predictions have not been directly tested.