Which term best describes a rapidly changing thought pattern where ideas are connected by associations?

The term that best describes a rapidly changing thought pattern where ideas are connected by associations is "flight of ideas." This term is commonly used in psychiatric settings to describe a form of thought disturbance often seen in conditions such as manic episodes in bipolar disorder. In flight of ideas, the individual's thoughts race from one topic to another, often with minimal connection or relevance between them, which leads to a stream of disjointed thoughts that can be difficult for an observer to follow.

This phenomenon signifies a heightened state of cognitive activity, characterized by the rapid and often pressured speech that accompanies it. It reflects an individual’s inability to maintain a coherent flow of thought, leaving them perceived as tangential in conversation.

While loose associations are also related to a disordered thought process, they specifically indicate a more subtle form where thoughts may still maintain some connectivity but are not as rapid or pressured as in flight of ideas. Clang association refers to a different disturbance where thoughts are connected primarily by their sound rather than meaning, often leading to rhymes or puns that might not convey coherent ideas. Echopraxia, on the other hand, involves the involuntary imitation of another person's actions and is unrelated to thought patterns.

Thus, recognizing flight of ideas as the