Thinking

Question 1

thought disorder

Answer 1

disturbance that affects process or content of thinking, the use of language and consequently, the ability to communicate effectively; associated with schizophrenia and mania.

Question 2

magical thinking

Answer 2

belief that thinking or wishing something can cause it to occur

Question 3

neologism

Answer 3

new words coined by the patient, common in schizophrenia

Question 4

word salad

Answer 4

meaningless mixture of random words and phrases characteristic of schizophrenia

Question 5

circumstantiality

Answer 5

difficulty in separating relevant from irrelevant information while describing an event thus delaying getting to the point

Question 6

tangentiality

Answer 6

tendency for responses to digress from the original topic to avoid theme raised

Question 7

perseveration

Answer 7

tendency to persist with a point or theme, even after it has been dealt with exhaustively

Question 8

loosening of associations

Answer 8

lack of an obvious connection between one thought and the next

Question 9

derailment

Answer 9

a loosening of association where patient jumps from one topic to another unrelated topic for no apparent reason

Question 10

fight of ideas

Answer 10

thoughts follow each other rapidly with no general direction of thinking; common in manic states and schizophrenia

Question 11

clanging

Answer 11

a pattern of speech in which words are selected because of sound rather than meaning, resulting in rhyming and punning (clang association) instead of logic

Question 12

blocking

Answer 12

interruption in speech or train of thought by discussing something of personal significance/ emotional factors

Question 13

glossolalia

Answer 13

incomprehensible speech in an imaginary language occurring with trances or certain schizophrenic syndromes (like speaking in tongues)

Question 14

poverty of content

Answer 14

Speech that lacks meaning, or where speech quantity is far greater than necessary for the message conveyed.

Question 15

delusion

Answer 15

false belief that is maintained in spite of evidence to the contrary

Question 16

paranoid delusion

Answer 16

fixed, false belief that one is being harmed or persecuted by a particular person or group of people; the govn’t is watching me!

Question 17

delusion of persecution

Answer 17

centering around a person’s fixed, false belief that others aim to obstruct, harm, or kill him/her

Question 18

delusion of grandeur

Answer 18

false belief that one possesses superior qualities such as genius, fame, omnipotence, or wealth.

Question 19

thought withdrawal

Answer 19

delusion that someone or something is removing thoughts from one’s mind

Question 20

thought broadcasting

Answer 20

Belief that one’s thoughts are being broadcast from one’s head to the external world. Delusion that people can read one’s mind

Question 21

erotomania - erotic delusions

Answer 21

fixed, false belief that another person, typically someone famous and powerful, is one’s secret admirer.

Question 22

tangentiality vs circumstantiality

Answer 22

responder never reaches the point of the question (in circumstantiality, they do eventually reach it)