This article is about the psychological and psychiatric meaning of the term.

In psychology and psychiatry, perseveration is the repetition of a particular response, such as a word, phrase, or gesture, despite the absence or cessation of a stimulus, usually caused by brain injury or other organic disorder. Symptoms include "lacking ability to transition or switch ideas appropriately with the social context, as evidenced by the repetition of words or gestures after they have ceased to be socially relevant or appropriate," or the "act or task of doing so," and are not better described as stereotypy (a highly repetitive idiosyncratic behaviour).