At a crowded party, Lise sees an acquaintance whose name she cannot quite remember. She is pretty sure his name is "Harry" or "Henry," or at least that it is a two-syllable name that begins with an H. Lise is experiencing
A) engram decay.
B) acoustic confounding.
C) the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon.
D) retroactive interference.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon is when someone is temporarily unable to recall a word or name that they know they know. In this case, Lise knows that she knows the acquaintance's name, but is struggling to retrieve it. The fact that she remembers some details about the name, such as the first letter and number of syllables, suggests that the information is still stored in her memory, but is just not accessible at the moment.

At a Crowded Party, Lise Sees an Acquaintance Whose Name