External Factors Affecting False Memories

Information is retained from two sources: external and internal. External sources are our perceptual processes such as sight, hearing, or becoming aware of something through the senses, whereas internal sources are involved with processes such as reasoning, imagination, and thought. When it comes to analyzing the processes people use to determine whether information initially originated from an external or an internal source this is referred to as reality monitoring. Reality monitoring is accredited to be responsible for the distinction and confusion between memories for thoughts and memories for perceptions. There is much research examining reality monitoring and source monitoring, and the factors that affect false memories. These studies
Typically the source of the memory is incorrectly connected to a specific recollected experience. This concept pinpoints the factors that influence false memories such as similarity between sources, effects of association and schema, emotional focus and the criterion during recollection. Source monitoring can be separated into three categorizations. One form is the ability to distinguish memories derived from external sources. For example, if you were talking to two people and one of them made a statement, you can ,at a later time, recall which of the two made the statement. Another form of source monitoring is the ability to distinguish internally developed memories. Internal memories are derived from an individual's own activity. For example, when recalling a past conversation, you can distinguish statements you actually said from statements you thought about saying). The third form of source monitoring is the ability to distinguish memories obtained from internal and external sources. For example, when recalling a conversation with a person, you can remember which statements they made and statements you made. This form of source monitoring is referred to as reality monitoring. SOURCE