Question

Whereas the tip-of-the-tongue state can occur because we are having trouble recalling an actual memory that has been stored in our brains, this effect could also be the result of:

Answer 1

The tip-of-the-tongue state can result not only from recalling issues but also from encoding failure, where details were never committed to memory, along with potential interference issues.

Step-by-step explanation:

While the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon often occurs due to difficulty in recalling a stored memory, it may also result from encoding failure. Encoding failure happens when information never gets stored in our long-term memory because we didn’t actively commit the details to memory. This is similar to not being able to find a book on your e-reader that you never actually downloaded. Other potential contributors to the TOT state include interference, such as proactive or retroactive interference, and psychological factors such as stress or anxiety that could block memory retrieval.