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.
It was used not in the general sense, but as a reference to a mental disease. Or nearly so. It referred to a person is incapable of thinking metaphorically or in similes. For example, if somebody were to say, "She had an unusual glow about her," this person would be unable to think of this as anything other than a halo.
I believe it's a neurological condition.
Did the program have to do with diminished idiom comprehension?
Here is an abstract of a study of idiom comprehension in Alzheimer's disease.
No, definitely not that. Unfortunately, I don't remember the program, otherwise I'd track it down. I pack my mp3 player with podcasts, mostly science programs, and listen to them all day while on the bus, metro, walking, waiting, shopping, etc. Haven't heard anything recently on Alzheimer's.
However, that's definitely an interesting concept, Diminished Idiom Comprehension. Also, very similar to what I'm looking for. Mine was one word, I remember. I seem to remember it starting with an "S". Possibly.
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.