The hypothesis that blockers act more like retrieval cues is mainly supported by the idea of phonological similarities between the target word and the blocker word. Phonological blockers are words that sound similar to the target word. According to Bown & Harley, “phonological neighbors (of blockers) usually act as support in lexical retrieval rather than as a hindrance”. In contrast, an alternative argument suggests that phonological blockers hinder the ability to retrieve the target word causing a tip of the tongue state.