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TRAP #131 ·VOL I The Individual · Memory, Recall & NarrativeLEXICON ENTRY

Source Confusion

You remember the fact. You forgot it was someone you don't trust who told you. (Evidence: Strong) In serial retelling, details are leveled (dropped) and sharpened (exaggerated), per Allport & Postman (1947).
Category: BiasEvidence: ReplicatedUniversality: HighTier 1Type: Mechanismⓘ what these mean

This is a Lexicon entry: the mechanism, when it shows up, and the countermeasure. The full correction, with real-world cases and the audit prompt, hasn't been written yet.

Definition

Primary concept: False Memory Effect. Source Confusion is the mechanism behind False Memory - misattributing where a memory originated.

When it shows up

When recalling where you heard something; when attributing ideas to sources. In expert witness testimony: when a specialist forgets what they did not know at the time of an event. In code documentation: when a developer cannot reconstruct the reasoning behind their own decisions three months later.

Failure mode

Confident but wrong source attributions. Asserting an idea as your own that you encountered elsewhere. Plagiarism without intent. False memory for context.

Countermeasure

When unsure of a source, say so explicitly rather than confabulating one. Be especially careful when an "original" idea feels strong - it may be a forgotten memory.

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Related traps

Also connected in the map6 more, locked

Credit & first seen

PopularizedStudied by Marcia Johnson and colleagues in source monitoring research (1993).

Also revealed

Want the full correction for Source Confusion?

This entry has the mechanism and countermeasure. The full write-up - real cases, sources, the audit prompt - comes later.

Entry #131 of 631 in The Lexicon · see the full Lexicon