Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Circumstantial vs. Tangential Thought Process. A similar, more extreme type of thought pattern is called tangentiality. People who have it go very far from the main point they're trying to make.
A circumstantial thought process describes someone whose thoughts are connected but goes off-topic before returning to the original subject. On the other hand, a tangential thought process is a series of connected thoughts that go off-topic but do not return to the original topic.
Circumstantiality: Contains tighter and more coherent associations that may be easier to follow or understand (vs tangential speakers who eventually arrive back at the main point of speech or the answer to a question)
A circumstantial thought process describes someone whose thoughts are connected but go off-topic before returning to the original subject. On the other hand, a tangential thought process is a series of connected thoughts that go off-topic but do not return to the original topic.
Circumstantial speech, also referred to as circumstantiality, is the result of a so-called "non-linear thought pattern" and occurs when the focus of a conversation drifts, but often comes back to the point. [1]
Tangentiality is a communication pattern where a person goes off-topic or responds to questions in a way that doesn't directly address the initial point. In contrast, Circumstantiality involves giving excessive and unnecessary details in conversation, though the speaker eventually returns to the original topic or question.
Circumstantial thinking: inability to determine essential information from unessential. Desultory thinking: random topic jumps during conversation.
Circumstantiality and tangentiality: The circumstantial type of speech is superfluous and roundabout. The speaker will go off on irrelevant tangents before coming back to the main point of the story. Tangential thinking involves abrupt changes in subject matter that are unrelated to the initial topic.
Schizophrenia is marked by thinking process abnormalities such as disorganized thinking, tangential thought, and derailment. Learn about these thinking problems.
As adjectives the difference between tangential and circumstantial is that tangential is referring to a tangent, moving at a tangent to something while circumstantial is pertaining to or dependent on circumstances, especially as opposed to essentials; incidental, not essential.