Originally Posted By: TitoMatito

The word I'm trying to find was used on a radio program some months ago and I made a mental --rather than physical-- note of it, which of course means that I don't remember it.

If it's not written down it doesn't exist. Know the experience well.

Literalism or concrete thinking is one symptom of people with High Functioning Autism or Asperger's Syndrome. The inability to think metaphorically is also sometimes comorbid with other inabilities like prosopagnosia (not being able to recognise faces) and aphasia. Certain Aphasics are unable to understand or recognise words when they are used apart from their normal specific functions. Literalism is also sometimes present in schizophrenia.