Distinct Aspects of Decision Making in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Application of Unconscious Thought Theory

Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) rely on "explicit learning" strategies in decision making. It is suggested that periods of brief distraction (in healthy individuals) result in better decisions in complex situations. It can be hypothesized that periods of unconscious thought would not lead to better decisions due to impairment of implicit learning in OCD. A total of 121 OCD patients and 120 healthy participants were presented with a task in which they had to choose between four apartments with multiple attributes. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: making a decision immediately after being presented with options (immediate), after thinking carefully for 2 minutes (conscious thought [CT]), or after being distracted for 2 minutes (unconscious thought [UT]). Individuals with OCD performed worse than healthy controls in UT condition, although they did better in CT condition. Our study supports the idea of dysfunction in implicit processing and overreliance on explicit processes in OCD.