source-monitoring
|source-mon-i-tor-ing|
🇺🇸
/ˈsɔrsˌmɑnɪtərɪŋ/
🇬🇧
/ˈsɔːsˌmɒnɪt(ə)rɪŋ/
checking the origin (of a memory or data)
Etymology
'source-monitoring' originates from modern English by combining the noun 'source' and the gerund/participle form 'monitoring'. 'Source' comes via Old French 'sourse' (from Latin roots related to 'to rise') meaning 'spring' or 'origin', and 'monitoring' derives from the verb 'monitor' (Latin 'monēre') meaning 'to warn' or 'advise', here used in the sense 'to watch or check'.
'source' changed from Old French 'sourse' (meaning 'spring, fountain, origin') into Middle/modern English 'source'. 'Monitor' comes from Latin 'monitor'/'monēre' (to warn), passed into Middle English as 'monitor' and later formed the verbal noun 'monitoring'. The compound sense 'source-monitoring' was coined in late 20th-century cognitive psychology (appearing in the literature discussing source-memory and attribution processes).
Initially, components referred to a literal 'origin' ('source') and the act of 'watching/overseeing' ('monitoring'); over time the compound evolved into a technical term in psychology meaning the cognitive process of attributing the origins of memories and knowledge.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
in cognitive psychology, the process by which people identify or attribute the origins of their memories, knowledge, or beliefs (e.g., whether a memory came from direct perception, imagination, suggestion, or another person).
Researchers examined source-monitoring to determine whether participants could distinguish between events they had actually experienced and events they had only imagined.
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Noun 2
a general or literal meaning: the act of monitoring or keeping track of a source (e.g., tracking the origin of data, supplies, or signals).
The team set up source-monitoring to track where the data feeds were coming from.
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Last updated: 2025/12/16 15:35