A cognitive error wherein individuals recall information correctly but incorrectly remember the origin of that information. This mnemonic distortion leads to attributing a memory to the wrong source, be it a person, document, or event. For instance, an individual might recall a specific fact presented during a conversation but mistakenly believe they learned it from a book. This disconnect between the remembered content and its true origin can have significant implications for judgment, decision-making, and the reliability of eyewitness testimony.
Understanding this cognitive bias is crucial in fields such as legal psychology, marketing, and education. In legal settings, it can impact the accuracy of witness accounts and the validity of evidence. In marketing, it affects how consumers perceive and remember advertising campaigns, potentially leading them to associate a product with the wrong endorsement. From a historical perspective, the study of memory distortion has evolved significantly, with early research focusing on basic recall errors and later work exploring the complex cognitive processes underlying source monitoring.
