Current data on source monitoring provide and incomplete picture of how people remember the origin of their memories. To date, research has focused mainly on the role of a memory trace s qualitative characteristics (e.g., its vividness); a memory is supposedly attributed to the source for which its characteristics are typical (Johnson et al., 1993). While trace characteristics most certainly play a role in source monitoring, their importance has been inflated and the role of other processes largely ignored. Experiments 1 and 2 will test the hypothesis that the importance of particular trace characteristics (e.g., memory for processing operations) is a function of particular laboratory situations. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 will test the hypothesis that when possible, source attributions will be based on reasoning processes rather than an evaluation of trace characteristics. Experiments 6 and 7 will test the hypothesis that sometimes people will be able to explicitly store and retrieve tags to source. Experiments 8, 9, and 10 will extend the Source Monitoring Framework to an under-studied aspect of information monitoring: target monitoring, or how people remember to whom they have directed information. Collectively, these studies will lead to a better understanding of source monitoring and more generally to a better understanding of information monitoring.
