Thought disorders

Question 1

What is circumstantiality?

Answer 1

Inability to answer a question without giving excessive, unnecessary detail.
The person does eventually return to the original point.

Question 2

What is tangentiality?

Answer 2

Wandering from a topic without returning to it.

Question 3

What are neologisms?

Answer 3

New word formations, which might include the combining of two words.

Question 4

What are clang associations?

Answer 4

Ideas are related to each other only by the fact they sound similar or rhyme.

Question 5

What are loosening of associations?

Answer 5

continuing change of topic with only loose associations between topics

Question 6

What is perseveration?

Answer 6

Repetition of ideas or words despite an attempt to change the topic.

For example, the patient may correctly answer ‘Monday’ when asked the day of the week and then answer all further questions with ‘Monday’.

Question 7

What is echolalia?

Answer 7

Repetition of someone else’s speech, including the question that was asked.

Question 8

Flight of ideas

Answer 8

Jumping from topic to topic with no discernible associations