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The role of similarity in developmental differences in source monitoring
Author(s) -
Day Kylie,
Howie Pauline,
Markham Roslyn
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
british journal of developmental psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 2044-835X
pISSN - 0261-510X
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-835x.1998.tb00920.x
Subject(s) - psychology , similarity (geometry) , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , image (mathematics)
Previous developmental studies of source monitoring have suggested that young children's discriminative difficulties are confined to certain tasks. Various explanations for these findings have been offered. The present study examined three factors that may account for some developmental differences in source monitoring performance: action similarity, person similarity, and involvement of the self. Six‐ and 12‐year‐old children carried out source monitoring tasks in which performed and imagined actions were either similar or dissimilar, and the agents of performed and imagined actions were either different or the same. Within the same actor condition, the agent was (i) always the self, or (ii) always another person. Strong effects of age and action similarity were found, but the results failed to support unequivocally the unique importance for developmental trends of any one of the three factors we investigated. The results suggest that multiple factors may contribute to age differences in source monitoring, either individually or in combination, including various dimensions of similarity, as well as the role of the self.