Cognitive slippage is a symptom of several psychiatric diseases and mental disorders associated with cognition and formal thought disorders. It is manifested in patterns of speech, where categories and lists become overly broad as concepts unrelated at first glance become related through tangential connections.

An example of cognitive slippage might be as follows:

"List some types of cars."

"Let's see, there's Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Japan, Rising Sun, Hiroshima, Atomic Bomb, Enola Gay, oh and Miata."

(Schutz, 2006)

The inclusion of extraneous items in the listing is evidence of the cognitive slippage. While the concepts such as Toyota, Japan, Rising Sun, etc. are all related, the relation is no longer defined by the initial prompt. The cognitive slippage, however, causes the inability to disregard these extraneous connections and results in patterns of speech and association as seen here. In contrast, another disorder of speech, word salad

Word salad (mental health)

In the mental health field, schizophasia, commonly referred to as word salad, is confused, and often repetitious, language that is symptomatic of various mental illnesses....

 is even more disorganized than the loose associations of cognitive slippage.

Cognitive slippage is one of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...

, a psychiatric illness that affects every aspect of a patient's life.