Literal and overly complicated thinking is associated with specific psychological and neurodevelopmental conditions
the verdict
SUPPORTED
the evidence backs this
confidence 82/100
Literal and overly complicated or rigid thinking patterns are consistently documented as characteristic features of neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism spectrum disorder.
Evidence for · 4
What does it take to be rigid? Reflections on the notion of rigidity in autism.
2023 · cited by 12
Paper 1 discusses literalism and black-and-white mentality as core facets of cognitive and behavioral rigidity in autism.
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More for · 3
Cognitive constraints and lexicogrammatical variability in ASD: from diagnostic discriminators to intervention strategies.
2025 · cited by 2
Paper 7 identifies specific syntactic and cognitive constraints in ASD that contribute to rigid lexicogrammatical processing.
Rigidity in autism spectrum disorder (ASD): A unified (evolutionary) account of linguistic and non-linguistic symptoms
2023 · cited by 1
Paper 10 links the literal interpretation of non-literal language in ASD to underlying neurodevelopmental mechanisms of rigidity.
The Externally Oriented Thinking Facet of Alexithymia Mediates the Negative Association of ASD Symptoms With Cognitive and Emotional Empathy.
2026 · cited by 0
Paper 11 notes that alexithymia features an overly concrete or externally oriented cognitive style that mediates empathy deficits in ASD.