Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) Practice Test

What defines rapid, continuous verbalization with frequent shifts from one topic to another?

1. Clang association

2. Flight of ideas

3. Distracted speech

4. Word salad

The correct answer is: Flight of ideas

Rapid, continuous verbalization with frequent shifts from one topic to another is identified as flight of ideas. This phenomenon is often observed in individuals experiencing manic episodes in bipolar disorder or severe anxiety conditions. In flight of ideas, the person speaks quickly and often seems to have thoughts that zip from one topic to another with little to no logical connection, which creates a sense of racing through ideas without concentration on a single topic. In contrast, clang association refers to speech that is driven by the sounds of words rather than their meaning, which may lead to rhyming or puns but lacks the topic shifts characteristic of flight of ideas. Distracted speech involves losing focus due to external stimuli but does not necessarily encompass the same rapid-fire transitions between unrelated topics. Word salad describes a collection of incoherent speech where phrases or words are jumbled together in a nonsensical way, lacking any logical structure, unlike the somewhat connected nature of ideas in flight of ideas.