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The “Tip of the Tongue” phenomenon
Abstract
The “tip of the tongue” (TOT) phenomenon is a state in which one cannot quite recall a familiar word but can recall words of similar form and meaning. Several hundred such states were precipitated by reading to Ss the difinitions of English words of low frequency and asking them to try to recall the words. It was demonstrated that while in the TOT state, and before recall occurred, Ss had knowledge of some of the letters in the missing word, the number of syllables in it, and the location of the primary stress. The nearer S was to successful recall the more accurate the information he possessed. The recall of parts of words and attributes of words is termed “generic recall.” The interpretation offered for generic recall involves the assumption that users of a language possess the mental equivalent of a dictionary. The featurse that figure in generic recall may be entered in the dictionary sooner than other features and so, perhaps, are wired into a more elaborate associative network. These more easily retrieved features of low-frequency words may be the features to which we chiefly attend in word-perception. The features favored by attention, especially the beginnings and endings of words, appear to carry more information than the features that are not favored, in particular the middles of words.
... Metacognition questionnaire is another dominant scale that measures positive beliefs about worry, negative beliefs about thought control and danger, cognitive confidence, general negative beliefs about thoughts, and metacognitive processes or self-consciousness (Semerari et al., 2003). Other self-report surveys such as the feeling of knowing (i.e. the likelihood of remembering information in future; Hart & Kuhlen, 1965), tip-of-the-tongue approach (to recall information; Brown & McNeill, 1966), judgment of learning (to assess how well an individual learns; Schwartz, 1994), the need for cognition scale (Norman et al., 2019), and self-regulation related to metacognitive knowledge and skills (Mecacci & Righi, 2006) have been utilised in prior research. ...
... The measurement of metacognition confirms its association with awareness and regulation (Mecacci & Righi, 2006;Schraw & Dennison, 1994), beliefs (Semerari et al., 2003), feeling of knowing (Hart & Kuhlen, 1965), memory (Brown & McNeill, 1966), bodily responses (Norman et al., 2019), and knowledge (Mecacci & Righi, 2006). Metacognitive experiences, comprehension monitoring, and heuristic strategies are also the terms which are commonly associated with metacognition (Veenman et al., 2006). ...
... Chat GPT and other AI agents could also extend human cognition when information stored in human semantic memory is not retrieved for some reason. An example of semantic information not being retrieved even though it is known to the speaker occurs in the tip of the tongue (ToT) phenomenon [82]. When a human speaker is in the tip of the tongue state information related to the meaning, gender, or syntactic class of the word may be accessible, but not the complete phonological form of the word. ...
Strings of letters or sounds that lack meaning (i.e., nonwords) have been used in cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics to provide foundational knowledge of human processing and representation, and insights into language-related performance. The present set of studies used the machine psycholinguistic approach (i.e., using nonword stimuli and tasks similar to those used with humans) to gain insight into the performance of Chat GPT in comparison to human performance. In Study 1, Chat GPT was able to provide correct definitions to many extinct words (i.e., real English words that are no longer used). In Study 2 the nonwords were real words in Spanish, and Chat GPT was prompted to provide a word that sounded similar to the nonword. Responses tended to be Spanish words unless the prompt specified that the similar sounding word should be an English word. In Study 3 Chat GPT provided subjective ratings of wordlikeness (and buyability) that correlated with ratings provided by humans, and with the phonotactic probabilities of the nonwords. In Study 4, Chat GPT was prompted to generate a new English word for a novel concept. The results of these studies highlight certain strengths and weaknesses in human and machine performance. Future work should focus on developing AI that complements or extends rather than duplicates or competes with human abilities. The machine psycholinguistic approach may help to discover additional strengths and weaknesses of human and artificial intelligences.
... Perhaps the most famous use of RD is mitigating the phenomenon known as the "tip of the tongue" (TOT), the frustrating stage where one remembers a meaning or some synonyms, yet can not reach the specific word itself Brown and McNeill (1966). Using RD to search by meaning of word enables users to create much more accurate language. ...
This study addresses the critical gap in Arabic natural language processing by developing an effective Arabic Reverse Dictionary (RD) system that enables users to find words based on their descriptions or meanings. We present a novel transformer-based approach with a semi-encoder neural network architecture featuring geometrically decreasing layers that achieves state-of-the-art results for Arabic RD tasks. Our methodology incorporates a comprehensive dataset construction process and establishes formal quality standards for Arabic lexicographic definitions. Experiments with various pre-trained models demonstrate that Arabic-specific models significantly outperform general multilingual embeddings, with ARBERTv2 achieving the best ranking score (0.0644). Additionally, we provide a formal abstraction of the reverse dictionary task that enhances theoretical understanding and develop a modular, extensible Python library (RDTL) with configurable training pipelines. Our analysis of dataset quality reveals important insights for improving Arabic definition construction, leading to eight specific standards for building high-quality reverse dictionary resources. This work contributes significantly to Arabic computational linguistics and provides valuable tools for language learning, academic writing, and professional communication in Arabic.
... Many of us are familiar with the experience of having a memory at the "tip of the tongue"stored in memory yet temporarily unrecallable (Brown and McNeill, 1966;Brown, 1991). Closely related is the "feeling of knowing"-a subjective judgment about the likelihood of subsequently recognizing items which are presently unrecallable. ...
Classical models of memory in psychology and neuroscience rely on similarity-based retrieval of stored patterns, where similarity is a function of retrieval cues and the stored patterns. While parsimonious, these models do not allow distinct representations for storage and retrieval, despite their distinct computational demands. Key-value memory systems, in contrast, distinguish representations used for storage (values) and those used for retrieval (keys). This allows key-value memory systems to optimize simultaneously for fidelity in storage and discriminability in retrieval. We review the computational foundations of key-value memory, its role in modern machine learning systems, related ideas from psychology and neuroscience, applications to a number of empirical puzzles, and possible biological implementations.
In this study, we used a multidimensional extension of signal detection theory called general recognition theory (GRT) to evaluate the influence of tip-of-the-tongue states (TOT) and feeling-of-knowing (FOK) experiences on the metacognitive sensitivity of recognition confidence judgments. In two experiments, we asked participants to recall names of famous individuals (Experiment 1) or to recall correct answers to a series of general-knowledge questions (Experiment 2). If recall failed for any trial, participants provided metacognitive judgments of TOT and FOK, memory recognition responses, and metacognitive judgments of confidence on those recognition responses. To evaluate the influence of TOT and FOK on the metacognitive sensitivity of confidence judgments, we fit two different GRT models and constructed two sensitivity vs. metacognition curves, each representing changes in metacognitive sensitivity of confidence, as a function of the strength of TOT or FOK. The results showed that experiencing a TOT or a high FOK is associated with an increase in metacognitive sensitivity of confidence judgments. These results are the first report of influence of TOT and FOK on metacognitive sensitivity of confidence.
Humans are adept at providing accurate statements of confidence in their perceptual identification and recall memory responses. In spite of this, mechanical pattern-recognition systems and other artificial intelligence devices seldom express response certainty. The purpose of this paper is to show how useful confidence ratings can be in integrating the results of a variety of pattern-recognition systems to produce a single, optimal decision concerning the target to be recognized. We outline several ways neural network pattern-recognition systems could be modified to issue confidence ratings with each classification response. In sketching a mechanical system of confidence ratings we find we have also provided a preliminary framework for understanding human confidence judgments and human metacognition.
The relative frequencies of spelling errors as a function of letter position have been examined for 7-, 9-, and 11-letter words selected at random from the Thorndike-Lorge word list. These were administered to 150 8th granders, and 89 juniors college freshmen, respectively. The distribution of errors according to letter position was found to closely approximate the classical skewed, bow-shaped, serial-position curve for errors generally found in serial rote learning. Other features in common between spelling and serial learning were discussed. It is suggested that a theory of serial learning and of the serial-position effect may be germane to the psychology of spelling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
The experiment reported in this paper was designed to determine which part of a printed word is most useful to a reader as a basis for recognition of the whole word. Versions of ninety common English nouns were prepared in which typographical reversals were inserted at the beginning, middle or end of the word. These were then presented in a tachistoscope to subjects who were asked to recognize the words.
The results of the experiment showed that an error in the beginning of a word is significantly more disruptive of recognition than an error in the middle or the end of a word and that an error at the end is more disruptive than an error in the middle.
An information processing model of elementary human symbolic learning is given a precise statement as a computer program, called Elementary Perceiver and Memorizer (EPAM). The program simulates the behavior of subjects in experiments involving the rote learning of nonsense syllables. A discrimination net which grows is the basis of EPAM's associative memory. Fundamental information processes include processes for discrimination, discrimination learning, memorization, association using cues, and response retrieval with cues. Many well-known phenomena of rote learning are to be found in EPAM's experimental behavior, including some rather complex forgetting phenomena. EPAM is programmed in Information Processing Language V. H. A. Simon has described some current research in the simulation of human higher mental processes and has discussed some of the techniques and problems which have emerged from this research. The purpose of this paper is to place these general issues in the context of a particular problem by describing in detail a simulation of elementary human symbolic learning processes. The information processing model of mental functions employed is realized by a computer program called Elementary Perceiver and Memorizer (EPAM). The EPAM program is the precise statement of an information processing theory of verbal learning that provides an alternative to other verbal learning theories which have been proposed. It is the result of an attempt to state quite precisely a parsimonious and plausible mechanism sufficient to account for the rote learning of nonsense syllables. The critical evaluation of EPAM must ultimately depend not upon the interest which it may have as a learning machine, but upon its ability to explain and predict the phenomena of verbal learning. I should like to preface my discussion of the simulation of verbal learning with some brief remarks about the class of information processing models of which EPAM is a member. a. These are models of mental processes, not brain hardware. They are psychological models of mental function. No physiological or neurological assumptions are made, nor is any attempt made to explain information processes in terms of more elementary neural processes. b. These models conceive of the brain as an information processor with sense organs as input channels, effector organs as output devices, and with internal programs for testing, comparing, analyzing, rearranging, and storing information. c. The central processing mechanism is assumed to be serial; i.e., capable of doing only one (or a very few) things at a time. d. These models use as a basic unit the information symbol ; i.e., a pattern of bits which is assumed to be the brain's internal representation of environmental data. e. These models are essentially deterministic , not probabilistic. Random variables play no fundamental role in them.
This paper deals with discrepancies between the apparent stimulus term and the actual stimulus in verbal learning experiments. The stimulus term presented to the subject will be called the
nominal stimulus; the characteristic or characteristics of the stimulus which the subject actually "uses" to cue a response will be called the
functional stimulus. Thus, this inquiry is concerned with potential discrepancies between the nominal and functional stimulus--between what the investigator commonly assumes to be the stimulus and what in fact serves functionally as the stimulus. It is well realized that it is an empirical problem to determine just what aspect, if any, of the nominal stimulus cues the response which is being measured. And, of course, the whole problem of experimental control is built around the premise that the specified nominal stimulus must be the only consistent cue available for a response. So, while some attention has been paid the matter of the discrepancy between the nominal and functional stimulus when the entire area of learning is considered, little attention has been paid to it as a systematic problem in the area of verbal learning. The present paper, therefore, aims to point out that the consideration of such discrepancies in verbal learning may be more important than the handful of applicable studies would seem to indicate. The presentation will be divided into two sections. First, the paired-associate situation will be examined for discrepancies between nominal and functional stimuli, and secondly, the inquiry will be directed toward such discrepancies which are peculiar to serial learning. The available evidence indicates clearly that in paired-associate learning one may expect discrepancies between the nominal and functional stimulus. From among the elements of a compound nominal stimulus the subject may select an element which becomes the functional stimulus. In presenting illustrations of stimulus selection in paired-associate learning it was apparent that assumptions were made about the nature of the situation in which stimulus selection occurs and why it occurs. Following a commentary section by Roger N. Shepard of Bell Telephone Labs, Inc., the chapter concludes with a "Summary of Conference Discussion" which describes the reactions of various conference participants to the paper when it was presented in June, 1961. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The ability of human operators to correct mutilations in printed English texts was studied for a variety of mutilations. The average person, given limited time to work, will not be able to correct passages perfectly if more than 10% of the characters are mutilated; the job is most difficult if the mutilation consists of random substitutions of erroneous characters. With superior persons and unlimited time, however, it is possible to abbreviate passages as much as 50%, either by omitting alternate characters or by omitting all the vowels and the space between words. These results correspond to a lower bound of 60% for the redundancy of printed English.
A course in modern linguistics JA~S, W. The principles of psychology Spelling errors and the serial-position effect
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THORN'DIKE, E. L., AND LORGE, I. The teacher's word book o] 30,000 words. New York: Columbia Univer., 1952. UNDERWOOD, B. J. Stimulus selection in verbal learning. In C. N. Corer and B. S. Musgrave (Eds.) Verbal behavior and learning: problems and processes. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963. Pp. 33-48.