Conceptual Neglect

There is a neurological condition known as hemispatial neglect in which an impaired person is unable to process stimuli from one half of their field of perception. This goes beyond blindness or insensitivity; this is an abstract neglect. For example, if a person has left-side hemispatial neglect and are presented with a plate of food, they'll only eat the food from the right side. It's not that they're blind to the left side - they can't even register it. There are cases of people only shaving one side of their face, being unable to distinguish facial features like moles or scars on other people depending on which side they're on, or being unable to describe familiar places in full detail.

This tool is similar, but it goes beyond the spatial deficits of hemispatial neglect. In these cases, the person has a similar level of neglect for a concept or relation. Some examples:

1. Courtney has sexual neglect. She cannot perceive any sexual connotations or sexual actions. Watching a sex scene in a movie is like watching two people grunting and sweating at each from other across a table at a coffeeshop. Every kiss is as chaste as a peck on the cheek from her grandmother. A swat on the ass or a nipple pinch have no more meaning than a slap on the wrist or a pinch on the forearm.

2. Courtney has male relational neglect. She is literally unable to form relationships with men. She can interact with them and remember them, but who they are in relation to her will always remain strangers. If she works on the same project as a man, she can work cordially and professionally but every time she meets them it will be like meeting someone in person that she's only exchanged short emails with.

3. Courtney has bodily neglect. She cannot perceive or conceptualize her own body. She can feel pain, heat, cold, hunger, and all other sensations. But she cannot, for example, describe her height or hair color. She can't tell you whether she's sitting or standing or if she has a bruise or sore muscles. If someone were to slap her, she'd feel pain without knowing why. Even in sexual intercourse she would understand her arousal but wouldn't understand its source.