Evidence for proactive interference effects in repetitive checking tasks.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Repetitive checking is a hallmark behavior in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Existing theories suggest checking decreases memory confidence by increasing familiarity and reducing detail encoding.
• This study challenges the notion that checking inherently undermines memory confidence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of proactive interference (PI) in the reduced memory confidence associated with repeated checking.
• To differentiate the effects of checking behavior from experimental procedures on memory confidence.
• To explore potential interventions for memory confidence deficits in OCD.

Main Methods:

• Three experiments were conducted using a virtual refrigerator task with repeated checking of food items.
• Memory accuracy and confidence were assessed after initial and final trials.
• Category cues were introduced in later experiments to test for PI release.

Main Results:

• All experiments demonstrated a decrease in recall accuracy and confidence across trials, consistent with PI.
• Category cues on the final trial eliminated the decline in memory confidence, indicating PI release.
• Checking within a trial improved accuracy and confidence, suggesting checking itself is beneficial.

Conclusions:

• The decline in memory confidence during repeated checking tasks is primarily caused by proactive interference (PI), not the checking behavior itself.
• Checking behavior, when performed within a trial, can enhance memory accuracy and confidence.
• Findings suggest that interventions for OCD should consider the impact of experimental design on memory confidence and explore strategies to mitigate PI.