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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A theory of lexical access in speech production
Levelt, W. J. M., Roelofs, A., & Meyer, A. S. (1999) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x99001776 · Cited by 5,295
Lexical access in aphasic and nonaphasic speakers.
Dell, G. S., Schwartz, M. F., Martin, N., Saffran, E. M., & Gagnon, D. A. (1997) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.104.4.801 · Cited by 1,489
“This is just the type of information that remains available in tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states (for a review, see Brown, 1991).”
BackgroundHow Many Levels of Processing Are There in Lexical Access?
Caramazza, A. (1997) · Cognitive Neuropsychology · doi:10.1080/026432997381664 · Cited by 1,165
The effects of promotion and prevention cues on creativity.
Friedman, R. S., & Förster, J. (2001) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.81.6.1001 · Cited by 1,094
“…5 項目を 9 件法で回答する ④ GCT を実施する Result and Discussion GCT の成績を従属変数、促進焦点スコアと予防焦点スコア、肯定的な感情、否定的な感情を予 測子とした重回帰分析を実施したところ、以下の結果が得られた 促進焦点スコアの正の主効果が得られた(b = 0.27, F(1,34) = 10.96, p<.003) 抑制焦点スコアの負の主効果が得られた(b = -0.49, F(1,34) = 9.73, p<.004) 肯定的な感情と否定的な感情はそれらの主効果に影響を与えず、主効果は見られなかった …”
InfluentialJescheniak, J. D., & Levelt, W. J. M. (1994) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition · doi:10.1037/0278-7393.20.4.824 · Cited by 443
“and Brown (1988) found that repetition priming of picture naming was not affected by delay, whereas episodic recogni”
Background
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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