Variations and Abnormalities in Thought Processes Ch 4

Question 1

Circumstantiality

Answer 1

Speech characterized by indirection and delay in reaching the point becasue of unneccessary detail, although components of the description have a meaningful connection. Many people without mental disordesr speak circumstantially. OBSERVED IN PEOPLE WITH OBSESSIONS

Question 2

Derailment (Loosening of associations)

Answer 2

Speech in which a person shifts from one subject to others that are unrelated or related only obliquely without realizing that the subjects are not meaningfully connected. Ideas slip off the trach between clauses, not within them. OBSERVED IN SCHIZOPHRENIA, MANIC EPISODES, OTHER PSYCHOTIC DIS.

Question 3

Flight of Ideas

Answer 3

An almost continuous flow of accelerated speech in which a person changes abruptly from topic to topic. Changes are usually based on understandable associations, plays on words, or distracting stimuli, but the ideas do not progress to sensible conversation. MOST FREQUENTLY SEEN IN MANIC EPISODES

Question 4

Neologisms

Answer 4

Invented of distorted words, or words with new and highly idiosyncratic meanings. OBSERVED IN SCHIZOPHRENIA, APHASIA, OTHERS

Question 5

Incoherence

Answer 5

Speech that is largely incomprehensible because of illogic, lack of meaningful connections, abrupt changes in topic, or disordered grammar or word use. Shifts in meaning occur within clauses. Flight of ideas, when severe, may produce this. PSYCHOTIC DISTURBANCES (SCHIZOPHRENIA)

Question 6

Blocking

Answer 6

Sudden interruption of speech in midsentence or before completion of an idea. The person attributes this to losing the thought. Blocking occurs in normal people. SCHIZOPHRENIA

Question 7

Confabulation

Answer 7

Fabrication of facts or events in response to questions, to fill inthe gaps of an impaired memory. SEEN IN KORSAKOFF’S SYNDROME FROM ALCOHOLISM

Question 8

Perseveration

Answer 8

Repetition of the words or ideas SCHIZOPHRENIA

Question 9

Echolalia

Answer 9

Repetition of the words and phrases of others MANIC EPISODES AND SCHIZOPHRENIA

Question 10

Clanging

Answer 10

Speech in which the person chooses a word on the basis of sound rather than meaning, as in rhyming and punning speech MANIC EPISODES AND SCHIZOPHRENIA