Do age-related increases in tip-of-the-tongue experiences signify episodic memory impairments?

Abstract

Tip-of-the-tongue experiences (TOTs), in which a name is known but cannot be immediately retrieved from memory, can be a cause of concern if these experiences are viewed as a sign of memory decline. The current study was conducted to investigate the relation between age and TOT frequency, and the influence of episodic memory, which is the type of memory most often assessed to detect memory problems, on that relation. In a sample of adults, increased age was found to be associated with more TOTs across different types of materials, and additional analyses suggested that these relations between age and TOT frequency were not attributable to the use of different response criteria or to different amounts of knowledge. Because statistical control of a measure of episodic memory had little effect on the relation between age and TOT frequency, age-related increases in TOTs and age-related decreases in episodic memory appear to be at least partially independent phenomena.

Keywords: aging; cognitive ability; knowledge; memory; tip of the tongue.

Fig. 1

Mean number of “tip-of-the tongue” (TOT) items scored for each type of stimulus as a function of participants’ age decade. Error bars indicate ±1 SE. The key shows the correlation between TOT frequency and age for each stimulus type.

Fig. 2

Mean proportion correct on the recognition tests of description and face stimuli as a function of participants’ age decade. Results are shown separately for items reported as known, not known, and on the tip of the tongue (TOT). Error bars represent ±1 SE.

Fig. 3

Mean tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) score (in z-score units) for verbal descriptions and face stimuli as a function of participants’ age decade. Separate functions are shown for TOT scores before and after controlling for variability in the composite episodic memory measure. Error bars represent ±1 SE. The key shows the correlations between age and the original and residual TOT scores.