G1) BEYERSDORF, SCHORR; Lexical retrieval

Tasks:

• Try to deliberately induce the ‘tip-of-the-tongue’ phenomenon: Select some rare and hard words from an English or German dictionary. Copy or adapt the definitions.
• Present as many friends or family members with these definitions, asking them to name the word that is being defined.
• If they experience the ‘tip-of-the-tongue’ phenomenon, ask them to tell you everything they believe to remember about the pronunciation of the word.
• What do the details that people remember tell you about how words in the mental lexicon are accessed?

Notes:

• Examples of definitions:
• What is the name of the building where one can view images of celestial bodies on the inner surface of a dome?
• How do you call a person who studies or collects postage stamps?
• What’s the name of an animal that mainly eats plant material?
• How do you call the study or collection of currency, including coins, paper money and related objects?
• Participants may come up with the correct word immediately or not know it at all. The only cases of interest for this experiment are those where they experience the ‘tip-of-the-tongue’ state.

Solution: Mini-project G1.pdf