Poster Session #2: South UC Ballroom
The Effects of Phonologically Related Words on Tip-of-The-Tongue (TOT)
Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Yoonhee Jang
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Psychology
Abstract / Artist's Statement
The “tip-of-the tongue” (TOT) experience occurs when a person cannot fully recall a word (target word) but has a very strong sense of what the word is. TOT is a common and frustrating experience that is often perceived as a memory deficit as opposed to an issue with language. The purpose of my study was to measure the effects of quickly presented phonologically related words (words related in sound) on TOT experiences. James and Burke (2000) discovered that TOT experiences diminished for participants when the participants read phonologically related words for more than one second. Salmelin (2006) cited that sound is activated in the brain in as little time as 50-100 milliseconds (msec) upon the onset of seeing words. This study investigated whether phonologically related words presented at a time between 50-100 msec (75msec) would reduce TOT experiences thus advocating TOT is affected by the words without having to fully process them. This study collected data from college students using an individualized computer experiment. Participants were given a shape identification task that asked to identify a “correct” shape (distractor task). Participants received presentations of the words for 75 msec directly before each alternating shape in the distracter task. Participants were given a TOT evoking question, then asked to respond: 1) answer the question 2) indicate they did not know the answer or 3) indicate TOT for the answer. The experiment compared correct and TOT responses between the 2 conditions of phonologically related and unrelated words. Using T-tests statistical analysis, results showed no significant differences for correct and TOT responses between the two conditions. Although presenting words at 75 msec had no effect on TOT experiences, further research could test the effects of words presented at faster speeds that are still less than one second (such as 250 msec).
Category
Social Sciences
The Effects of Phonologically Related Words on Tip-of-The-Tongue (TOT)
South UC Ballroom
The “tip-of-the tongue” (TOT) experience occurs when a person cannot fully recall a word (target word) but has a very strong sense of what the word is. TOT is a common and frustrating experience that is often perceived as a memory deficit as opposed to an issue with language. The purpose of my study was to measure the effects of quickly presented phonologically related words (words related in sound) on TOT experiences. James and Burke (2000) discovered that TOT experiences diminished for participants when the participants read phonologically related words for more than one second. Salmelin (2006) cited that sound is activated in the brain in as little time as 50-100 milliseconds (msec) upon the onset of seeing words. This study investigated whether phonologically related words presented at a time between 50-100 msec (75msec) would reduce TOT experiences thus advocating TOT is affected by the words without having to fully process them. This study collected data from college students using an individualized computer experiment. Participants were given a shape identification task that asked to identify a “correct” shape (distractor task). Participants received presentations of the words for 75 msec directly before each alternating shape in the distracter task. Participants were given a TOT evoking question, then asked to respond: 1) answer the question 2) indicate they did not know the answer or 3) indicate TOT for the answer. The experiment compared correct and TOT responses between the 2 conditions of phonologically related and unrelated words. Using T-tests statistical analysis, results showed no significant differences for correct and TOT responses between the two conditions. Although presenting words at 75 msec had no effect on TOT experiences, further research could test the effects of words presented at faster speeds that are still less than one second (such as 250 msec).