Cited by 517Memory Processes and InfluencesNeurobiology of Language and BilingualismReading and Literacy Development

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A review of the tip-of-the-tongue experience

Brown, Alan S.·1991·Psychological Bulletin

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Abstract

The tip-of-the-tongue experience (TOT) has intrigued psychologists for nearly a century. R. Brown and McNeil (1966) provided the first systematic exploration of the phenomenon, and the findings since their seminal study suggest that TOTs (a) are a nearly universal experience, (b) occur about once a week, (c) increase with age, (d) are frequently elicited by proper names, (e) often enable access to the target word's first letter, (f) are often accompanied by words related to the target, and (g) are resolved during the experience about half of the time. Important questions remain concerning TOTs: (a) Are emotional reactions necessary, (b) do only low frequency targets elicit TOTs, (c) do TOTs reflect incomplete target word activation or interference from related words, and (d) do spontaneous retrievals really occur? A more precise definition of the TOT experience is needed, as well as greater uniformity in the information gathered during TOTs.

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Quantifying Human Metacognition for the Neurosciences
Schwartz, B. L., & Dı́az, F. (2014) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-45190-4_2 · Cited by 18
“However, they also provide us with a manner of understanding the relation of process, experience, and behavior [5, 31].”
Background
Effects of practice on tip-of-the-tongue states
Smith, S. M., Balfour, S. P., & Brown, J. (1994) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658219408251491 · Cited by 15
What about phonological facilitation, response-set membership, and phonological coactivation?
Starreveld, P. A., & Heij, W. L. (1999) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x9941177x · Cited by 15
Multiplex lexical networks and artificial intelligence unravel cognitive patterns of picture naming in people with anomic aphasia
Baker, O., Montefinese, M., Castro, N. M., & Stella, M. (2023) · Cognitive Systems Research · doi:10.1016/j.cogsys.2023.01.007 · Cited by 14
Increased pupil dilation during tip-of-the-tongue states
Ryals, A. J., Kelly, M. E., & Cleary, A. M. (2021) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2021.103152 · Cited by 17
Measuring Intuitive Use: Theoretical Foundations
Reinhardt, D., & Hurtienne, J. (2023) · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447318.2023.2166204 · Cited by 20
“According to Price and Norman (2008), this feeling can be likened to the tip-of-the-tongue experience (Brown, 1991).”
Background
Treatment of input and output phonology in aphasia: A single case study
Corsten, S., Mende, M., Cholewa, J., & Huber, W. (2007) · Aphasiology · doi:10.1080/02687030701192034 · Cited by 14
“review in Brown, 1991 ; see also Nickels & Howard, 2000 ).”
Subcategories of "Fringe Consciousness" and Their Related Nonconscious Contexts
Norman, E. (2002) · Cited by 14
Retrieval Processes in Memory
Rajaram, S., & Barber, S. J. (2008) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-012370509-9.00169-8 · Cited by 14
“There are also other well-known metamemory judgments such as feelings of knowing (see Koriat, 1995) and the tip-of-the-tongue state (see Brown, 1991; Schwartz et al., 2000) that researchers study to find out subjects’ sense of what they can retrieve even when recall does not succeed.”
Activation of dominant hemisphere association cortex during naming as a function of cognitive performance in mild traumatic brain injury: Insights into mechanisms of lexical access
Popescu, M., Hughes, J., Popescu, E.-A., Mikola, J., Merrifield, W. S., DeGraba, M., Riedy, G. P., & DeGraba, T. J. (2017) · NeuroImage Clinical · doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2017.06.029 · Cited by 14
“Mechanisms underlying an inefficient inhibition of competing neuronal representations could contribute for example to word selection difficulties manifested sometimes by retrieval of different (intrusive) words (Brown, 1991; Schwartz, 1999).”
The tip-of-the-tongue state as a form of access to information: Use of tip-of-the-tongue states for strategic adaptive test-taking.
Cleary, A. M., McNeely-White, K. L., Russell, S. A., Huebert, A. M., & Hausman, H. E. (2020) · Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.jarmac.2020.08.013 · Cited by 14
“…adaptive testing The Tip-of-the-tongue Phenomenon The tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) state—the feeling of being on the verge of retrieving a momentarily inaccessible word from memory—has traditionally been viewed as reflecting an instance of retrieval failure (e.g., Brown, 1991, 2012; Schwartz, 2002).”
Background
Le manque du mot dans les troubles spécifiques du langage chez l’enfant
Bragard, A., & Schelstraete, M. (2006) · L’Année psychologique · doi:10.4074/s0003503306004064 · Cited by 13
Les troubles de la dénomination
Bogliotti, C. (2012) · Langue française · doi:10.3917/lf.174.0095 · Cited by 13
Word Finding Difficulties
German, D. J., Schwanke, J. H., & Ravid, R. (2011) · Communication Disorders Quarterly · doi:10.1177/1525740111405840 · Cited by 13
“In priming studies of children and adults, researchers have reported that primes similar in form to words facilitate activation and retrieval of those words during WF disruptions, “tip of the tongue” blocks on picture-naming tasks (Brown, 1991; Burke et al., 1991; James & Burke, 2000; McGregor & Windsor, 1996).”
Background
Exploring the effects of restraining the use of gestures on narrative speech
Cravotta, A., Prieto, P., & Busà, M. G. (2021) · Speech Communication · doi:10.1016/j.specom.2021.09.005 · Cited by 12
Odor Knowledge, Odor Naming, and the “Tip-of-the-Nose” Experience
Jönsson, F. U., & Stevenson, R. J. (2014) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139547383.014 · Cited by 13
Implicit priming of picture naming: A theoretical and methodological note on the implicit priming task
Santiago, J. (2000) · Cited by 13
Representation and Aging
Burke, D. M. (2006) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195169539.003.0013 · Cited by 13
Remembering and Forgetfulness in Conversational Narrative
Norrick, N. R. (2003) · Discourse Processes · doi:10.1207/s15326950dp3601_3 · Cited by 13
“Traditionally, the FOK was characterized negatively as a state where the item sought can not be currently retrieved, though recall of the target (and resolution of the state) seems imminent (Brown, 1991; Smith, 1994).”
Background
Word Concreteness as a Moderator of the Tip-of-The-Tongue Effect
Gianico, J. L., & Altarriba, J. (2012) · The Psychological Record · doi:10.1007/bf03395834 · Cited by 13
All my children: The roles of semantic category and phonetic similarity in the misnaming of familiar individuals
Deffler, S. A., Fox, C., Ogle, C. M., & Rubin, D. C. (2016) · Memory & Cognition · doi:10.3758/s13421-016-0613-z · Cited by 12
“occurs when one feels that information is known but cannot recall it (Brown, 1991). In a survey of TOT states, Burke and colleagues (1991) found that the majority of TOTs reported by”
Influential
The accessibility of semantic knowledge for odours that can and cannot be named
Stevenson, R. J., & Mahmut, M. K. (2012) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1080/17470218.2012.753097 · Cited by 12
“, Brown, 1991). Many participants then, in Lawless and Engen’s (1977) study, clearly thought that they had some knowledge about an odour they could not name, but later studies have tended to suggest that this knowledge is actually rather limited. Jonsson and Olsson (2003) found that for target odours that participants…”
BackgroundInfluential
Recruitment of Control and Representational Components of the Semantic System during Successful and Unsuccessful Access to Complex Factual Knowledge
Ubaldi, S., Rabini, G., & Fairhall, S. L. (2022) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2485-21.2022 · Cited by 13
Between Thought and Expression, a Magnetoencephalography Study of the “Tip-of-the-Tongue” Phenomenon
Resnik, K., Bradbury, D., Barnes, G. R., & Leff, A. P. (2014) · Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00611 · Cited by 14
“There was an emphasis on celebrities who had not been in the news recently to increase the number of TOT responses (Brown, 1991).”
BackgroundInfluential
Knowing Its Gender Without Knowing Its Name: Differential Access to Lexical Information in a Jargonaphasic Patient
Macoir, J., & Béland, R. (2004) · Neurocase · doi:10.1080/13554790490900770 · Cited by 12
Aging and the seven sins of memory
Pierce, B. H., Simons, J. S., & Schacter, D. L. (2003) · Advances in cell aging and gerontology · doi:10.1016/s1566-3124(03)15002-x · Cited by 12
“Perhaps the best example of blocking is the tip-of-the-tongue state (TOT), an experience in which one is certain that information is in memory but is temporarily unable to retrieve it (Brown, 1991).”
BackgroundResult
What Speech Errors Can Tell Us About Word-Form Generation: The Roles of Constraint and Opportunity
Meijer, P. J. A. (1997) · Journal of Psycholinguistic Research · doi:10.1023/a:1025020423225 · Cited by 12
Extremely Dilute Modular Neuronal Networks: Neocortical Memory Retrieval Dynamics
Mari, C. F. (2004) · Journal of Computational Neuroscience · doi:10.1023/b:jcns.0000023871.60959.88 · Cited by 13
“The existence of activity isles may be speculated to underlie phenomena of incomplete memory recollection, for instance, in the so-called tip-of-the-tongue states (Brown, 1991; Koriat, 1993).”
Background
Dynamic memory processes in retrieving answers to questions: Recall failures, judgments of knowing, and acquisition of information.
Yaniv, I., Meyer, D. E., & Davidson, N. S. (1995) · Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition · doi:10.1037//0278-7393.21.6.1509 · Cited by 12

Authors: Brown, A. S.
Affiliations: Southern Methodist University (US)
Corresponding author: Brown, Alan S.
Venue: Psychological Bulletin
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1991
Volume: 109
Issue: 2
Pages: 204-223
ISSN: 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
1939-1455
DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.109.2.204
OpenAlex: W2130943935
Cited by: 517
References: 85
Citations by year: 2026: 8 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 23
FWCI: 4.68
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
Keywords: tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon, word retrieval, lexical access, proper names, word frequency, related words, emotional responses, spontaneous retrieval, word activation
MeSH terms: Adult, Aged, Aging, Arousal, Attention, Awareness, Child, Humans, Mental Recall, Retention, Psychology, Semantics, Verbal Learning

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A review of the tip-of-the-tongue experience

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