overinclusionn.
/ˌəʊv(ə)rɪnˈkluːʒn/, /ˌəʊv(ə)rɪŋˈkluːʒn/, U.S. /ˈˌoʊvərᵻnˈkluʒ(ə)n/ Psychology.
The indiscriminate inclusion of apparently irrelevant responses to a stimulus, as observed in some forms of mental illness.
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the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > impairment of mental powers > impaired responsiveness
perseveration1907
passivity1927
overinclusion1939
1939 Jrnl. Mental Sci. 85 1019 The inability to select and to restrict, and to eliminate the less closely related elements from the conceptual structure, means that the psychological boundaries are functionally insufficient. The result of this situation is over-inclusion.
1942 E. Hanfmann & J. Kasanin Conceptual Thinking in Schizophrenia vii. 95 Some of the examples that Cameron brings as illustrating overinclusion can be also seen as examples of extreme primitivisation of thinking.
1951 N. Cameron & A. Magaret Behavior Pathol. xv. 457 The concept of overinclusion was first developed operationally, in connection with the sorting of behavior of schizophrenic patients. But its use since then has been expanded to cover a wide range of behavioral disorganization, both normal and abnormal.
1990 G. Claridge et al. Sounds from Bell Jar (BNC) 42 The same theories were also used to explain the normal variants of overinclusion—divergent or allusive thinking.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1939