the tendency for an impression, idea, or feeling to dissipate only slowly and to recur during subsequent experiences
2.
an inability to change one's method of working when transferred from one task to another
perseveration in American English
(pərˌsɛvərˈeɪʃən)
noun
1.
the tendency of an idea, impression, experience, etc. to persist or recur, or of an individual to continue a particular mental activity without the ability to shift easily to another at a change in stimulus
2. Psychiatry
the persistent and pathological repetition of a verbal or motor response, often seen in organic brain disease and schizophrenia