> Thinking is a background process.

If you try to remember what you are trying to remember on the spot often you can't. Then you stop trying and all the sudden (and later) the answer comes to you. (One example: Happens often when trying to remember the name of an actor 'I know who that is' then later 'ok it was...')

I think this is also related to why some people don't test well. A question in a test format or information requested formulated as a question (that need an immediate answer) doesn't work for many people with facts that are memorized. In fact extreme pressure can sometimes prevent recall just because of the anxiety alone that that produces.