Editing Recall (memory) (section)

===Tip-of-the-tongue===
{{Main|Tip of the tongue}}

A [[tip of the tongue|tip-of-the-tongue]] (TOT) state refers to the perception of a large gap between the identification or knowledge of a specific subject and being able to recall descriptors or names involving said subject. This phenomenon is also referred to as '[[tip of the tongue|presque vu]]', a French term meaning "almost seen". There are two prevalent perspectives of TOT states: the psycholinguistic perspective and the metacognitive perspective.

Psycholinguistics views TOT states as a failure of retrieval from lexical memory (see [[Cohort Model]]) being cued by [[semantic memory]] (facts). Since there is an observed increase in the frequency of TOT states with age, there are two mechanisms within psycholinguistics that could account for the TOT phenomenon. The first is the degradation of lexical networks with age, where degrading connections between the priming of knowledge and vocabulary increases difficulty of successfully retrieving a word from memory. The second suggests that the culmination of knowledge, experience, and vocabulary with age results in a similar situation where many connections between a diverse vocabulary and diverse knowledge also increases the difficulty of successful retrieval of a word from memory.<ref name="Schwartz">{{cite journal | last1 = Schwartz | first1 = B. L. | last2 = Frazier | first2 = L. D. | last3 = Otani | first3 = Hajime | last4 = Widner | first4 = Robert | year = 2005 | title = Tip-of-the-tongue states and aging : Contrasting psycholinguistic and metacognitive perspectives | journal = The Journal of General Psychology | volume = 132 | issue = 4| pages = 377–391 | doi=10.3200/genp.132.4.377-391| s2cid = 145666684 }}</ref>

The metacognitive perspective views TOT states simply as the awareness felt when such an event occurs and the perception of the experience involved. Mainly being aware of a TOT state can result in the rapid devotion of cognitive resources to resolving the state and successfully retrieving the word from memory. Such an explanation leaves much to be desired; however, the psycholinguistic perspective and the metacognitive perspective on TOT states are not mutually exclusive and both are used to observe TOT states in a laboratory setting.<ref name="Schwartz"/>

An incubation effect can be observed in TOT states, where the passage of time alone can influence the resolution of the state and result in successful recall. Also, the presence of a TOT state is a good predictor that the problem can be resolved correctly, although this has been shown to occur more frequently with older-young-adults than young-adults or seniors. This is evidence for both the metacognitive perspective as well as the psycholinguistic perspective. It demonstrates the devotion of resources to searching memory, a source of cumulative information, for the desired correct information, and it also shows that we are aware of what information we know or do not know.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Choi | first1 = H. | last2 = Smith | first2 = S. M. | last3 = Otani | first3 = Hajime | last4 = Widner | first4 = Robert | last5 = JR | year = 2005 | title = Incubation and the resolution of tip-of-the-tongue states | journal = The Journal of General Psychology | volume = 132 | issue = 4| pages = 365–376 | doi=10.3200/genp.132.4.365-376| s2cid = 12516682 }}</ref> This is why the current debate between the psycholinguistic view of TOTs as retrieval failure and the metacognitive view of TOTs as a tool for learning continues.

Similar phenomena include [[déjà vu]] (already seen), [[jamais vu]] (never Seen), and déjà entendu (already heard).
These occur rarely and are more prevalent in patients with traumatic head injuries, and brain disorders including [[epilepsy]].