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Tip of the Tongue States Increase Under Evaluative Observation

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Abstract

We tested the frequent assumption that the difficulty of word retrieval increases when a speaker is being observed and evaluated. We modified the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) so that participants believed that its evaluative observation components continued throughout the duration of a subsequent word retrieval task, and measured participants’ reported tip of the tongue (TOT) states. Participants in this TSST condition experienced more TOTs than participants in a comparable, placebo TSST condition in which there was no suggestion of evaluative observation. This experiment provides initial evidence confirming the assumption that evaluative observation by a third party can be disruptive to word retrieval. We interpret our findings by proposing an extension to a well-supported theoretical model of TOTs.

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Notes

  1. We use the term “evaluative observation” to refer to third-party, social, and evaluative observation, whether real or ostensible.

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Author notes

  1. Nichol Castro

    Present address: Psychology Department, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs, CO, 80918, USA

    Lori E. James, Christopher J. Schmank & Nichol Castro

  2. Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Tony W. Buchanan

Authors
  1. Lori E. James
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  2. Christopher J. Schmank
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  3. Nichol Castro
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  4. Tony W. Buchanan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lori E. James.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

The experiments and manuscript represent the collaborative efforts of all authors. We thank Brittany Chambers, Macey Fegler, Michelle Hendricks, U’ilani Schnackenberg, Thomas Scott, Landis Temple, and McKenna Vanhorn for research assistance.

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James, L.E., Schmank, C.J., Castro, N. et al. Tip of the Tongue States Increase Under Evaluative Observation. J Psycholinguist Res 47, 169–178 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-017-9524-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-017-9524-9

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