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It's on the tip of your tongue, but whatever you do, don't think about It

  2. AndreaKnoll
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We've all experienced it. You're in mid-conversation and all of a sudden you forget a word or name. It's on the tip of your tongue, you've used the word numerous times in the past, but for some inexplicable reason you just can't recall it.

Surprisingly, a new study reveals that you should stop right there, since straining to recall something in this way may actually reinforce the "mistake pathway," making it more likely to happen again.

In the study, which was published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, a group of thirty students were asked to perform word retrieval exercises. They were given series of definitions, and had to find the corresponding word.

They were then asked do indicate whether or not they knew the answer, or if it was on the tip of their tongue (TOT). If the answer was TOT, students were given either 10 or 30 seconds to recall the answer. In follow up tests performed two days later using the same set of definitions, those given more time to recall the answers in the previous test were more likely to get stuck again.

"We know this is how the brain works, it reinforces whatever it does. So [the study results] completely make sense," says researcher Karin Humphreys of McMaster University in Ontario. "But at the same time, it's so counterintuitive to how we feel, we should learn from all our mistakes."

So next time, rather than torturing yourself with the prolonged anguish of attempting to recall an evasive word, save yourself the frustration and just go look it up on Google. You'll be doing yourself (and your friends) a favor.

http://www.dailymantra.com
AndreaKnoll

9 responses // It's on the tip of your tongue, but whatever you do, don't think about It

  • interesting notion how the brain reinforces whatever it does... I wonder how far that goes perhaps to explain rather illicit behaviors. ...interesting. thanks!
    echoz
  • Whenever this happens to me, I say "never mind, it will come back to me in a moment" and I either continue the conversation or move on to another subject, and, invariably, the word pops into my mind almost as soon as I take my mind away from that subject.
    Vierotchka
  • I was hoping this article was going to tell me a better way to remember forgotten things, but it just tells you to look it up on google. haha, thanks for the help on my anatomy of a frog test tomorrow morning.
    murf1087
  • Maybe my brain works differently but whenever that happens to me, I think of something that relates to what I trying to think of and the connections to the subject and that sparks the answer I'm looking for.

    It fills in the gaps around the subject so that the missing part is easier to recall. Since I haven't reached the point where the Net is always able to be accessed it's easier than waiting until I can google it.
    Argon18
  • I totally hate when I forget a word, so I just recall the conversation I previously used the word in...But I guess I shouldn't do that anymore.
    sarahjesse
  • HaHaha I have a professor that does this all the time. sadly I pick up this habit
    danfrancisco31
  • I've been driving down the mistake pathway for a while now...
    xenomode
  • I agree with Argon. I remember years ago when I was 13 I was in New York with my sister and I couldn't remember the word "versatile". But now, whenever I forget it, I always remember that time that I couldn't remember it, and I recall the exact conditions I was in, and the word comes back to me within seconds. It's like when I forget what I was going to say, I retrace my steps and most of the time (not always, though), remember what led me to think of it.

    What I do hate though, and what I find strange, is when you're trying to think of a word or a name, and you could have sworn it started with a B... or maybe an H? And it turns out it's an R.
    amstreater
  • haha i agree totally with Amstreater!
    cerci_girl

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