ILLUSORY TIP-OF-THE-TONGUE STATES

The tip-of-the-tongue state (TOT) is the phenomenological experience t hat a target word is on the verge of being recalled. An illusory TOT o ccurs when a person experiences a TOT, but the actual target is either unavailable, forgotten, or never learned. Illusory TOTs were induced by asking participants to answer questions that did not have correct a nswers. In Experiment 1, an episodic-memory paradigm, participants wer e shown fictional animals, some of which were accompanied by the anima l's name (identified targets) and some of which were not (unidentified targets). Some participants experienced TOTs for unidentified targets . In Experiment 2, a semantic-memory paradigm, participants were asked general-information questions, some of which were questions with no c orrect answer. Every one of the 31 participants experienced at least o ne illusory TOT. The characteristics of illusory TOTs are discussed in light of inferential and direct-access views of TOTS.