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Sub-clinical compulsive checkers' prospective memory is impaired
1Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4. cuttler@psych.ubc.ca
Journal of Anxiety Disorders
|July 25, 2006
Summary
Compulsive checking may impair prospective memory, especially for event-based tasks. High checkers reported more memory failures, potentially fueling intrusive concerns about task completion.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Sub-clinical compulsive checking is prevalent among students.
- Prospective memory is crucial for daily task completion and well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate prospective memory performance in individuals with varying levels of compulsive checking.
- To explore the relationship between compulsive checking, objective and subjective prospective memory, and intrusive concerns.
Main Methods:
- 126 undergraduate students were categorized into high, medium, and low compulsive checkers.
- Objective prospective memory was assessed using event-cued and time-cued tasks.
- Subjective prospective memory and compulsive checking were measured via questionnaires.
Main Results:
- High and medium checkers performed significantly worse on event-cued prospective memory tasks compared to low checkers.
- No significant differences were found between groups on time-cued prospective memory tasks.
- High checkers reported a higher frequency of all types of prospective memory failures.
Conclusions:
- Compulsive checking tendencies are associated with impaired event-cued prospective memory.
- Increased prospective memory failures in checkers may contribute to intrusive concerns and task-related anxiety.