Tip-of-the-tongue States: Phenomenology, Mechanism, and Lexical Retrieval

by Schwartz; Bennett L.

• ISBN13: 9780805834451
• ISBN10: 0805834451
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-12-01
• Publisher: Psychology Pres

Summary

Tip-of-the-Tongue experiences are one of those illusive oddities of human cognition. Like slips of the tongue, deja vu, and visual illusions, TOTs dazzle us with their subjective strength, yet, at the same time, puzzle us with our frustrating inability to retrieve the desired word. This book discusses what little is known about TOTs and speculates about much of the rest of the riddle. Cognitive psychologists know a lot about processes but generally avoid issues of conscious experience and phenomenology. Because the larger goal of this book is to relate the TOT experience to the study of human phenomenology, it goes beyond the conventional cognitive psychology question, "What causes tip-of-the-tongue experiences?" to ask, "Why do we experience TOTs at all?"

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction: What is a TOT?	1	(18)
Descriptions and Anecdotes	3	(2)
Definitions	5	(1)
Brown and McNeill (1966): Seminal Research on TOTs	6	(9)
The Doctrine of Concordance	15	(3)
Summary	18	(1)
The Properties of Naturally-Occurring TOTs	19	(30)
TOTs are Naturally-Occurring Experiences	21	(1)
The Universality of TOTs	22	(6)
TOTs in the Field: TOT Diaries	28	(8)
TOT Phenomenology	36	(12)
Summary	48	(1)
Theories of TOT Etiology	49	(24)
Direct-Access Theories	51	(14)
Inferential Views	65	(7)
Summary	72	(1)
TOTs as a Window on Retreval	73	(22)
Models of Lexical Retrieval	74	(14)
TOTs and Theories of Bilingual Semantic Representation	88	(3)
The Relation of Gestures, TOTs, and Word Retrieval	91	(2)
The Tip-of-the-Pen Phenomenon in Chinese Writing	93	(1)
Summary	94	(1)
Theories of Metacognition	95	(19)
Monitoring and Control	96	(17)
Summary	113	(1)
Functional Aspects of the TOT	114	(18)
Monitoring and TOTs	115	(1)
Monitoring and Control Theory and Inferential Models of TOT Etiology	116	(3)
TOTs as Control Mechanisms	119	(5)
TOTs and Other Control Features	124	(7)
Summary	131	(1)
TOTs, Development, and Neuropsychological Issues	132	(26)
TOTs and Aging	133	(6)
Decrement Theory Versus Incremental Knowledge Theory	139	(7)
TOTs in Children	146	(3)
TOTs in Patient Populations	149	(8)
Summary	157	(1)
Conclusions and Directions for the Future	158	(7)
A Word on Consciousness	160	(1)
Related Phenomena	161	(1)
A Final Word on TOTs	162	(3)
References	165	(10)
Author Index	175	(4)
Subject Index	179