Repeated checking causes distrust in memory but not in attention and perception.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Individuals with obsessive-compulsive (OC) disorders often experience uncertainty across cognitive domains, including memory, attention, and perception.
• Previous research suggests that repeated checking behaviors, intended to alleviate memory distrust, may paradoxically exacerbate it.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether perseverative checking influences distrust in memory, attention, and perception in healthy individuals.
• To determine if the effects of checking are domain-specific or generalize to other cognitive functions.

Main Methods:

• A computer-based task was administered to 70 healthy participants, involving activation, deactivation, and checking of threat-irrelevant stimuli.
• Participants rated their confidence in memory, attention, and perception before and after a checking manipulation.
• A 'relevant checking' group repeatedly checked the same stimuli, while an 'irrelevant checking' group checked different stimuli.

Main Results:

• While memory accuracy improved in both groups, repeated checking of relevant stimuli reduced confidence in memory (meta-memory), vividness, and detail.
• A non-significant trend indicated a decline in attentional confidence solely within the relevant checking group.
• Perception confidence remained unaffected by repetitive checking in either group.

Conclusions:

• Perseverative checking can induce distrust specifically in the cognitive domain being checked, particularly meta-memory.
• The findings suggest that the impact of perseveration may be domain-specific, affecting only the cognitive processes subjected to repeated checking.
• Further research is needed to confirm the trend observed in attentional confidence and explore the boundaries of domain specificity.