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Images and Doubts in Intrusive Cognitive Activity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

Mark H. Freeston ,
Robert Ladouceur ,
Hélène Letarte  and
Josée Rhéaume
Mark H. Freeston
Affiliation:
Université Laval, Quebec, Canada
Robert Ladouceur
Affiliation:
Université Laval, Quebec, Canada
Hélène Letarte
Affiliation:
Université Laval, Quebec, Canada
Josée Rhéaume
Affiliation:
Université Laval, Quebec, Canada
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Abstract

Intrusive thoughts are variously reported as images, thoughts, doubts, impulses etc. Recent accounts of emotional processing make important distinctions between cognitive activity in verbal form and images. The comparison of verbal intrusions and images was made on archival data about intrusive cognitions from 628 university students. Images and doubts (a verbal form) occurring together were perceived as more difficult to dismiss than either images or doubts alone. In addition, images and doubts together were more frequent, more probable, and required more effort to counter than images alone. Likewise, images and doubts together and doubts alone were more worrisome and more frequently triggered by various stimuli than images alone. These results suggest that cognitive intrusions identified as a mixture of doubts and images are qualitatively different and more troublesome than those identified as either doubts or images. These findings are discussed in terms of current accounts of emotional processing.

Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , July 1994 , pp. 189 - 198
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1994

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