Effect of friendship on socially shared tip-of-the-tongue states

Abstract

A tip-of-tongue (TOT) state is classically defined as a failure to retrieve a word from memory, typically associated with partial recollection and a strong feeling that recall is imminent. However, not all TOTs are caused by difficulty accessing a word in memory. According to metacognitive accounts, the likelihood of experiencing a TOT state builds up from the accumulation of evidence that points to the likelihood that recall of the target word will be successful. Using a set of general knowledge questions to induce TOT states, Rousseau and Kashur (2021) have shown that individual participants reported more TOT states in when in groups than when tested individually. The authors suggested that people remembering in groups entertain the metacognitive inference that the target word will be easier to recall, if not by oneself, by the entire group. The primary aim of the current study was to investigate in more depth the metacognitive appraisal hypothesis put forward by Rousseau and Kashur (2021). More specifically, it addressed the following research question: Is the magnitude of this metacognitive appraisal magnified by interpersonal closeness? We hypothesized that, unlike Strangers, close Friends are more likely to share common memories, which may make Friends remember together experience a stronger feeling of closeness with the target word than Strangers would. Over the 90 general knowledge questions, groups of Friends exhibited better recall (M = 63 per cent) than groups of Strangers (M = 54 per cent). Consequently, the number of items available to report a TOT state was more elevated for participants participating in a group with Strangers. Indeed, Strangers reported five per cent of TOT states, compared to four per cent for Friends. Following a common practice, to circumvent the bias created by unbalanced correct recall rates, TOT rates were adjusted in two different ways. First, following the two-stage word production model, TOT rates were reported as a ratio of “known” items. When adjusted this way, the TOT rate was higher in Strangers (8 per cent) than in Friends (6 per cent). Unlike Strangers, Friends benefited from more phonological cues and stronger arousal, two factors that may explain why Friends were more inclined to reach the final, second stage of word production, resulting in fewer TOT states. Second, following the metacognitive model, TOT rates were reported as a ratio of “unknown” items. When adjusted this way, the TOT rate did not differ between Friends and Strangers. However, the TOT rate increased as a function of the number of years Friends have known each other, within the 4-to-10-year range. Coupled with more elevated confidence to remember with others reported by Friends, this finding suggests that as relational closeness increases, the metacognitive feeling of closeness with the target word increases, which may promote shared TOT states.