Tip of the tongue
There are still currently opposing hypotheses in the psychological literature regarding the separability of the process underlying these concepts.
This disorder is called anomic aphasia when acquired by brain damage, usually from a head injury, stroke, or dementia.
When the target word was later read by the experimenter participants were instructed to report whether they experienced a tip of the tongue state.
[2] This method is controversial as it is unclear if the blockers given produce TOT states or act as retrieval cues.
According to Bown & Harley, "phonological neighbors (of blockers) usually act as support in lexical retrieval rather than as a hindrance".
[18] In contrast, an alternative argument suggests that phonological blockers hinder the ability to retrieve the target word causing a tip of the tongue state.
[2] The accessibility of the target word fluctuates due to factors that increase its activation level, such as cues.
[20] According to cognitive psychologists Deborah M. Burke, of Pomona College, and Donald G. MacKay, of the University of California, Los Angeles, this phenomenon occurs due primarily to three reasons, all based on weakened neural connection: the lack of frequent use of a word, the lack of recent use of a word, and aging.
These views disregard the presence of the target word in memory as having an effect on creating tip of the tongue states.
Cue-familiarity theory suggests that the strong feelings elicited by recognizing a familiar cue about the target word cause the tip of the tongue phenomenon.
[2] The accessibility heuristic states that TOTs are elicited by the quantity and strength of the information that is retrieved from memory when the target word itself is not.
The research in this area has used magnetoencephalography(MEG)[22] and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Problems like this make it difficult to determine what areas are specifically implicated in TOT states, and which are a byproduct of other cognitive functions.
[30] Bilinguals also represent virtually twice as many words and additional cognitive mechanisms for activation and inactivation of languages.
[31] Research has been conducted to investigate the effects of lorazepam on TOT states in response to general knowledge question.
[31] Furthermore, lorazepam suppresses emotions, which may be why participants taking this drug do not experience the subjective feelings that accompany TOT states; thus enabling the recall of alternative responses.
[32] Research has been performed involving phonological priming and TOTs in which participants took either 200 mg of caffeine or a placebo.
For each question, participants read 10 priming words that were displayed on a monitor for a short period of time.
[32] Caffeinated participants had fewer TOT experiences than the placebo group, suggesting better memory recall.
The results suggest that this dose of caffeine (equivalent to two cups of coffee) can temporarily hinder a person's short-term recall of certain words.
Current research using neuroimaging compared the brain patterns of younger and older individuals experiencing TOT states.
[36] More specifically, greater activation in the sensorimotor cortex in older individuals and less in younger adults may reflect differences in the knowledge that is used to retrieve the target information.
studies have shown that frequent tip of the tongue states are not linked at all to dementia, which is common in the elderly.
[37] Despite the association of increased age with lower levels of episodic memory and more frequent TOT states, the two phenomena seem to be largely independent of one another.
[27] Neuroimaging has also found activation in some areas that are associated with emotion; specifically in the anterior cingulate cortex.
In a study by Beeson, Holland, and Murray (1997), participants with Alzheimer's disease and three classic aphasic syndromes (Broca's, anomic, and conduction aphasia) were instructed to name famous people.
Those with anomic aphasia showed to be superior to the other groups in their ability to name famous people that were presented.
However, the Broca's conduction and AD groups did not differ in immediate or delayed naming of famous faces.
[39] Research on priming and practice use single word tests to assess for the presence of TOT states.
[40] Support for priming has been found in that when individuals are given the first letter of the word they are trying to recall, they are more likely to overcome their TOT state.
