Each word is used only once. You may need to change the word (lexically and/or grammatically) in order for it to fit the context. There are 2 extra words in the box. Transfer your answers into the answer sheet (21–30).
Why Do We Get Tip-of-the-Tongue Syndrome?
Jessica Hullinger July 5, 2015 – 11:00am
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FRUSTRATE
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СORRESPOND
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MEET
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DESPERATE
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EFFORT
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SCIENCE
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LUCK
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It’s happened to all of us. In the middle of a conversation, you suddenly hit a vocabulary wall. “What’s that word?” you think. You know the word. But you can’t say it. It 21 there on the tip of your tongue.
There’s a 22 term for this phenomenon, which is—you guessed it—tip-of-the-tongue syndrome. It’s so common that most languages have given it a term. Koreans say a word is “sparkling at the end of my tongue,” while Estonians describe it as being “at the head of the tongue.”
For Karin Humphreys, tip-of-the-tongue syndrome is very real. “I’d find I would get it on the same name or same word over and over again,” she says. Out of 23 , she’d look up the word online, or a friend would come to her rescue. “You feel you’re never going to forget it again, because the relief is just so palpable. And then I’d find myself a week later in a tip-of-the-tongue state on the same word again, which is even more 24 ! It got me thinking, ‘Why the heck is this happening?’”
25 , Humphreys is in a unique position to answer that question. She’s an associate professor at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, who studies the psycholinguistics of language production.
Why do tip-of-the-tongue states occur?
Translating thoughts into words is a complex process—one that we take for granted because it usually happens 26 . The brain translates thoughts from abstract concepts into words and then attaches them to the appropriate sounds. Voilà: we speak. In TOT states, this process gets interrupted. “Word recalling normally goes smoothly and easily, but in this case the system breaks down and you get stuck partway through,” Humphreys says.
Unfortunately, the more we think about the 27 word, as we are inclined to do, the more it escapes us. But struggling with it only to be given the answer by the Internet actually doesn’t do us much good in helping us recall the word later. In fact, Humphrey’s research suggests it basically guarantees you’ll forget it again.
Working with undergraduate volunteers, she triggered TOT states by providing a series of definitions and asked participants to produce the 28 words.
A sample definition: “What do you call the sport of exploring caves?”
If the definition sent the participants into a TOT state, they 29 a bit of time to think on it. If they still couldn’t remember the word, researchers would give them the answer. (The sport is “spelunking.”) The experiment was repeated with the same participants, definitions, and words in various intervals to see if the time between tests would change whether or not participants could 30 the words next time. But it didn’t matter if the test happened a week later or five minutes later. Many people repeatedly experienced TOT states on the same words.
So, every time you forget Liam Neeson’s name and google it, you’re only reinforcing your mistake.
