The DOI matches its Crossref record; 85 of the 85 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
A review of the tip-of-the-tongue experience
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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“Memory expression fluctuates even in response to identical cues, which suggests that ongoing brain states bias memory accessibility.”
From Infraslow histaminergic dynamics govern priming states to gate moment-to-moment memory accessibility (2026) · cites this paper as [1]
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Heinzerling, G. (2002) · doi:10.53846/goediss-4222
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He, Z., Gong, X., & Wang, C. (2026) · Language and Speech · doi:10.1177/00238309251411303
Wang, X., Vartanov, A. V., & Wen, F. (2026) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.6237619
Dynamique spatiotemporelle de la production de mots
Llorens, A. (2014) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/f9624ff2zce1fz47b3z8f3cz7783b9c7dedd
Dimara, E. (2017) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/fa0c0a43z19acz4a60za48ez3ad8abc79047
“# Category Cognitive Bias REF InfoVis Short Explanation 99 #MEMO Modality e ect [187] #4 easier to recall items presented auditorily than visually 100 #MEMO Mood-congruent memory [324] #1 recall a ected by current mood 101 #MEMO Next-in-line e ect [72] #2 failure to recall words of previous speaker in turns speaking 1…”
Ahumada-Ebratt, L. (2020) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/5c240abaz6b75z47ffzb4c2z6de233655f03
Mejía-Rendón, S., & Olezza, M. (2026) · trilogía Ciencia Tecnología Sociedad · doi:10.22430/21457778.3702
Embodied Knowing: Noetic Feelings and the Twin Triviality Problem
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The N400 Component in the L2 Learners’ Processing of Semantic Anomalies in L1 Formulaic Sequences
Shamsaee, S., & Shams, M. A. (2025) · International Conference on Signal Processing and Intelligent Systems (ICSPIS) · doi:10.1109/icspis68676.2025.11551761
“Some studies focus on natural occurring linguistic mistakes such as spoonerism [4] and tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon [5], [6] to reveal how mind processes linguistic elements.”
Barzykowski, K., Perrin, D., Staugaard, S. R., Mazzoni, G. A. L., & Moulin, C. (2026) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658211.2026.2742965
Why Tip-of-the-Tongue States Are Important
Brown, A. S., & Schwartz, B. L. (2014) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139547383.001
Metadata
- Authors
- Brown, A. S.
- Affiliations
- Southern Methodist University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Brown, Alan S.
- Venue
- Psychological Bulletin
- Published
- 1991
- Volume
- 109
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 204-223
- ISSN
- 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1455
- 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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