The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon: do experimenter-presented interlopers have any effect?

When a person is in a tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) state, they will sometimes recall a word that is similar in sound to the word they are attempting to retrieve. Woodworth (1929) argued that these interloper words both cause and sustain TOT states, whereas Brown and McNeill (1966) suggested that they are part of the process that leads to TOT resolution. Jones and Langford (1987) and Jones (1989) explicitly presented interloper words along with definitions of words that subjects were asked to recall. They reported that interlopers that were phonologically related to the target word increased the incidence of TOTs and concluded that this supported Woodworth's position. In three experiments, we adopted the interloper paradigm, but also included a control group who heard the definitions without interloper words. In Experiment 1, the definitions that Jones used with phonological interlopers created more TOTs even when no interlopers were presented. In Experiments 2a and 2b, we matched definitions for the number of TOTs they produced in the absence of interlopers. Under these circumstances we found no effect of interloper words at all. We conclude that there is no evidence from this paradigm to support the idea that interloper words are involved in either the causation or resolution of TOTs.     

Priming Effects on Tip-of-the-Tongue States in Farsi-English Bilinguals

The tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon, the inability to immediately retrieve a word one desires, was studied in bilingual Farsi-English-speaking adults. One question was whether insufficient activation or increased inhibition underlie TOT states in bilinguals. Another was whether bilinguals have common or separate lexicons for their two languages. Participants heard a definition in either Farsi or English, followed by either a Farsi or English prime word related in meaning or sound, or not at all related, to the target word. Participants supplied the target word that best fit the definition. Similar-sound primes increased TOTs for English definitions and targets, with a trend for more correct responses as well, suggesting that the similar-sound prime word facilitates rather than inhibits retrieval, supporting the transmission deficit hypothesis. Primes had the same effect for same and different language conditions, suggesting that both Farsi and English map onto a single lexicon, supporting the single-store model of bilingual memory.     

The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon: Blocking or partial activation?

Tip-of-the-tongue states may represent the momentary unavailability of an otherwise accessible word or the weak activation of an otherwise inaccessible word. In three experiments designed to address these alternative views, subjects attempted to retrieve rare target words from their definitions. The definitions were followed by cues that were related to the targets in sound, by cues that were related in meaning, and by cues that were not related to the targets. Experiment 1 found that compared with unrelated cues, related cue words that were presented immediately after target definitions helped rather than hindered lexical retrieval, and that sound cues were more effective retrieval aids than meaning cues. Experiment 2 replicated these results when cues were presented after an initial target-retrieval attempt. These findings reverse a previous one (Jones, 1989) that was reproduced in Experiment 3 and shown to stem from a small group of unusually difficult target definitions.     

Increased pupil dilation during tip-of-the-tongue states

Tip-of-the-tongue states (TOTs) are feelings of impending word retrieval success during a current failure to retrieve a target word. Though much is known and understood about TOT states from decades of research, research on potential psychophysiological correlates of the TOT state is still in its infancy, and existing studies point toward the involvement of neural processes that are associated with enhanced attention, motivation, and information-seeking. In the present study, we demonstrate that, during instances of target retrieval failure, TOT states are associated with greater pupillary dilation (i.e., autonomic arousal) in 91% of our sample. This is the first study to demonstrate a pupillometric correlate of the TOT experience, and this finding provides an important step toward understanding emotional attributes associated with TOT states. Mean pupil dilation also increased such that instances of target identification failure that were unaccompanied by TOT states < instances in which TOTs occurred < instances of target identification success. It is possible that TOTs reflect an intermediary state between complete target retrieval failure and full target retrieval.     

The facilitative influence of phonological similarity and neighborhood frequency in speech production in younger and older adults

A tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) elicitation task and a picture-naming task were used to examine the role of neighborhood frequency as well as word frequency and neighborhood density in speech production. As predicted for the younger adults in Experiment 1, more TOT states were elicited for words with low word frequency and with sparse neighborhoods. Contrary to predictions, neighborhood frequency did not significantly influence retrieval of the target word. For the older adults in Experiment 2, however, more TOT states were elicited for words with low neighborhood frequency. Furthermore, in Experiment 3, pictures with high neighborhood frequency were named more quickly and accurately than pictures with low neighborhood frequency. These results show that the number of neighbors and the frequency of those neighbors influence lexical retrieval in speech production. The facilitative nature of these factors is more parsimoniously accounted for by an interactive model rather than by a strictly feedforward model of speech production.     

抑制对老年人舌尖现象的影响

抑制不足理论认为老年人抑制能力不足, 易受干扰信息的影响, 阻碍对目标词的检索, 故比年轻人有更多舌尖现象。实验1操纵抑制通达子功能探讨其在老年人舌尖现象中的作用, 采用2(干扰条件：有、无)×2(年龄组：老年、年轻)的混合设计, 相比于无干扰条件, 干扰条件下舌尖现象年龄差异变得更大, 表明老年人舌尖现象和通达功能有关。实验2操纵抑制删除子功能, 采用2(是否激活干扰：是、否)×2(年龄组：老年、年轻)的混合设计, 不激活干扰条件下舌尖现象年龄差异不显著, 而激活干扰条件下舌尖现象年龄差异显著, 舌尖现象随龄增多与删除功能不足有关。通达和删除功能不足是老年人舌尖现象增多的重要原因。     

What the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) says about homophone frequency inheritance

The present study uses tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states as a unique source of evidence to test the hypothesis of lexical access benefits for homophones--that is, whether low-frequency homophones, such as tee, inherit the lexical access benefits of their high-frequency homophonic counterparts, such as tea. We compared retrieval success rates for low-frequency homophones, for matched low-frequency controls, and for high-frequency controls with the combined frequency of the homophone set. In correct retrievals, low-frequency homophones behaved according to their specific frequency, not differing from the low-frequency controls. However, retrieval failures revealed a different kind of homophone effect. When retrieval failed for targets with a homophone partner, access difficulties tended to be less profound than for low-frequency controls, ending closer to target retrieval more often than low-frequency controls (at Step 2; in a self-resolved TOT or in a TOT with a strong feeling of knowing), and ending far away from target retrieval less often than low-frequency controls (at Step 1; in a notGOT). These results provide evidence against the notion of shared word-form representations for homophonic targets but leave open a door for a weaker form of homophone effects, possibly arising from feedback activation that influences retrieval only when access is sufficiently slowed (as when retrieval fails).     

Illusory Tip-of-the-tongue States

The tip-of-the-tongue state (TOT) is the phenomenological experience that a target word is on the verge of being recalled. An illusory TOT occurs when a person experiences a TOT, but the actual target is either unavailable, forgotten, or never learned. Illusory TOTs were induced by asking participants to answer questions that did not have correct answers. In Experiment 1, an episodic-memory paradigm, participants were shown fictional animals, some of which were accompanied by the animal's name (identified targets) and some of which were not (unidentified targets). Some participants experienced TOTs for unidentified targets. In Experiment 2, a semantic-memory paradigm, participants were asked generalinformation questions, some of which were questions with no correct answer. Every one of the 31 participants experienced at least one illusory TOT. The characteristics of illusory TOTs are discussed in light of inferential and directaccess views of TOTS.     

Phonological priming effects on word retrieval and tip-of-the-tongue experiences in young and older adults

In a repetition priming paradigm, young and older participants read aloud prime words that sometimes shared phonological components with a target word that answered a general knowledge question. In Experiment 1, prior processing of phonologically related words decreased tip-of-the-tongue states (TOTs) and increased correct responses to subsequent questions. In Experiment 2, the priming task occurred only when the participant could not answer the question. Processing phonologically related words increased correct recall, but only when the participant was in a TOT state. Phonological priming effects were age invariant, although older adults produced relatively more TOTs. Results support the transmission deficit model that the weak connections among phonological representations that cause TOTs are strengthened by production of phonologically related words. There was no evidence that phonologically related words block TOT targets.     

Illusory tip-of-the-tongue states.

The tip-of-the-tongue state (TOT) is the phenomenological experience that a target word is on the verge of being recalled. An illusory TOT occurs when a person experiences a TOT, but the actual target is either unavailable, forgotten, or never learned. Illusory TOTs were induced by asking participants to answer questions that did not have correct answers. In Experiment 1, an episodic-memory paradigm, participants were shown fictional animals, some of which were accompanied by the animal's name (identified targets) and some of which were not (unidentified targets). Some participants experienced TOTs for unidentified targets. In Experiment 2, a semantic-memory paradigm, participants were asked general-information questions, some of which were questions with no correct answer. Every one of the 31 participants experienced at least one illusory TOT. The characteristics of illusory TOTs are discussed in light of inferential and direct-access views of TOTS.     

The relation of tip-of-the-tongue states and retrieval time

The tip-of-the-tongue state (TOT) is the phenomenological experience that a word is on the verge of being recalled. Participants rated TOTs as either emotional or nonemotional. In Experiment 1, given general-information questions, participants spent more time attempting retrieval during emotional TOTs than during nonemotional TOTs or n-TOTs (retrieval failures not accompanied by TOTs). Experiment 2 replicated the effect that TOTs show longer retrieval times than n-TOTs. In Experiment 3, with word definitions as stimuli, retrieval times were longer for emotional TOTs. Experiment 4 showed the same relation between retrieval times and TOTs even when participants made retrospective decisions about whether they had experienced a TOT before they retrieved the correct target. Valence of emotion was correlated with correct resolution of the TOT. These results are discussed in the context of a metacognitive model, in which TOTs serve to monitor and control cognition.     

Does priming specific syllables during tip-of-the-tongue states facilitate word retrieval in older adults?

This experiment investigated whether phonological priming of syllables helps resolve tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states in young and older adults. Young, young-old, and old-old adults read general knowledge questions and responded "know," "TOT," or "don't know" accordingly. Participants then read a list of 10 words that included 3 phonological primes corresponding solely to the first, middle, or last syllable of the target word. Young and young-old adults resolved more TOTs after first-syllable primes, but old-old adults showed no increase in TOT resolution following any primes. These results indicate that presentation of the first syllable of a missing word strengthens the weakened phonological connections that cause TOTs and increases word retrieval, but not for old-old adults who experience greater deficits in the transmission of priming across these connections.     

Subjective states associated with retrieval failures in Parkinson’s disease

Instances in which we cannot retrieve information immediately but know that the information might be retrieved later are subjective states that accompany retrieval failure. These are expressed in feeling-of-knowing (FOK) and Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) experiences. In Experiment 1, participants with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and older adult controls were given general questions and asked to report when they experienced a TOT state and to give related information about the missing word. The PD group experienced similar levels of TOTs but provided less correct peripheral information related to the target when in a TOT state. In Experiment 2, participants were given a Semantic (general knowledge questions) and an Episodic (word pairs) FOK task. PD patients failed to accurately predict their future memory performance (FOK) in response to both episodic and semantic cues. Results are interpreted in the context of recent frameworks of memory and metacognition.     

Tip-of-the-tongue states reveal age differences in the syllable frequency effect

Syllable frequency has been shown to facilitate production in some languages but has yielded inconsistent results in English and has never been examined in older adults. Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states represent a unique type of production failure where the phonology of a word is unable to be retrieved, suggesting that the frequency of phonological forms, like syllables, may influence the occurrence of TOT states. In the current study, we investigated the role of first-syllable frequency on TOT incidence and resolution in young (18-26 years of age), young-old (60-74 years of age), and old-old (75-89 years of age) adults. Data from 3 published studies were compiled, where TOTs were elicited by presenting definition-like questions and asking participants to respond with "Know," "Don't Know," or "TOT." Young-old and old-old adults, but not young adults, experienced more TOTs for words beginning with low-frequency first syllables relative to high-frequency first syllables. Furthermore, age differences in TOT incidence occurred only for words with low-frequency first syllables. In contrast, when a prime word with the same first syllable as the target was presented during TOT states, all age groups resolved more TOTs for words beginning with low-frequency syllables. These findings support speech production models that allow for bidirectional activation between conceptual, lexical, and phonological forms of words. Furthermore, the age-specific effects of syllable frequency provide insight into the progression of age-linked changes to phonological processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).     

Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states: retrieval,behavior, and experience

The tip-of-the-tongue state (TOT) is the feeling that accompanies temporary inaccessibility of an item that a person is trying to retrieve. TOTs have been studied experimentally since the seminal work of Brown and McNeill (1966). TOTs are experiences that accompany some failed or slow retrievals, and they can result in changes in retrieval behavior itself, allowing us to study the interplay among experience, retrieval, and behavior. We often attribute the experience of the TOT to the unretrieved target, but TOTs are based on a variety of cues, heuristics, or sources of evidence, such as partial information, related information, and cue familiarity, that predict the likelihood of overcoming retrieval failure. We present a synthesis of the direct-access view, which accounts for retrieval failure, and the heuristic–metacognitive view, which accounts for the experience of the TOT. We offer several avenues for future research and applications of TOT theory and data.     

Effects of distorted auditory and of rhyming cues on retrieval of tip-of-the-tongue words by poets and nonpoets

Auditory cues (the target word distorted by a low-pass filter) and rhyming cues act as retrieval aids for people who have a word on the tip of their tongue. Parallels between the tip-of-thetongue phenomenon (TOT) and the perception of well-put passages of poetry are also discussed. It is argued that the effects of these poetic passages derive in part from the engagement of TOT-like processes. In support of this hypothesis, poets (poetry appreciators) are shown to be more aware of being helped by TOT retrieval cues than are nonpoets (poetry nonappreciators); however, the retrieval cues do not differentially influence successful recall of TOT words by poets and nonpoets.     

Sparkling at the end of the tongue: the etiology of tip-of-the-tongue phenomenology

The tip-of-the-tongue experience (TOT) is the phenomenological experience that a currently inaccessible word is stored in memory and will be retrieved. TOTs appear to be a universal experience that occurs frequently in everyday life, making the TOT an ideal case study in human phenomenology. This paper considers TOTs in light of Tulving's (1989) challenge to the doctrine of concordance, which is the assumption that behavior, cognition, and phenomenology are correlated, if not caused by identical processes. Psycholinguistic and memory theories, consistent with concordance, argue for direct access, or the view that TOTs and word retrieval are caused by the same retrieval processes. The metacognition view challenges concordance and views TOTs as an inference based on nontarget information that is accessible to rememberers. Current data, reviewed here, suggest that TOTs are caused via direct access and through inferential processes. Dissociations between TOTs and retrieval suggest that the causes of TOT phenomenology and the processes of retrieval are not identical.     

Parallel processing of objects in a naming task

The authors investigated whether speakers who named several objects processed them sequentially or in parallel. Speakers named object triplets, arranged in a triangle, in the order left, right, and bottom object. The left object was easy or difficult to identify and name. During the saccade from the left to the right object, the right object shown at trial onset (the interloper) was replaced by a new object (the target), which the speakers named. Interloper and target were identical or unrelated objects, or they were conceptually unrelated objects with the same name (e.g., bat [animal] and [baseball] bat). The mean duration of the gazes to the target was shorter when interloper and target were identical or had the same name than when they were unrelated. The facilitatory effects of identical and homophonous interlopers were significantly larger when the left object was easy to process than when it was difficult to process. This interaction demonstrates that the speakers processed the left and right objects in parallel.     

Why a superman cannot help a tsunami: activation of grammatical class influences resolution of young and older adults' tip-of-the-tongue states

Young (aged 18-23), young-old (aged 61-73), and old-old (aged 75-89) adults saw general knowledge questions whose answers were designated target words. Participants responded that they knew, did not know, or were having a tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) state for the answer. After TOT states, participants saw a 5-word list in which 1 was a "prime" containing the target's first syllable and that shared or differed in part of speech from the target. The question was then presented again, and target retrieval was attempted. Results revealed age differences in resolution of TOT states as a function of the prime's grammatical class. Following different part-of-speech primes, young and young-old adults showed increased resolution of TOT states relative to phonologically unrelated words, whereas old-old adults did not. In contrast, old-old adults demonstrated decreased resolution of TOT states following same part-of-speech primes, whereas young and young-old adults' TOT resolution was unaffected. These findings are consistent with interactive activation theories of speech production in which phonology can influence lexical selection and also suggest an increased susceptibility to phonological competitors in the later stages of the aging process.