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Evidence of Impaired Event-Based Prospective Memory in Clinical Obsessive–Compulsive Checking

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2012

Lynne M. Harris ,
Lisa Vaccaro ,
Mairwen K. Jones  and
Georgina M. Boots
Lynne M. Harris*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Lynne.Harris@acap.edu.au
Lisa Vaccaro
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Mairwen K. Jones
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Georgina M. Boots
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
*
*Address for correspondence: Associate Professor Lynne Harris, School of Psychological Sciences, Australian College of Applied Psychology, Level 5, 11 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia.
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Abstract

Based on findings from subclinical OCD checking samples (Cuttler & Graf, 2007; 2008), Cuttler and Graf (2009) suggested that checking may develop to compensate for prospective memory failures. The present study provides the first evidence of prospective memory problems in a clinical sample of OCD checkers (n = 26) compared to a group of healthy controls (n = 26). Consistent with earlier work with subclinical samples, the OCD checkers performed more poorly on an event-based, but not a time-based, prospective memory task. However, the OCD checkers did not report more subjective prospective memory failures than controls and their confidence in prospective memory accuracy was higher than that of controls. An explanation of the inconsistent findings with regard to metamemory in clinical and subclinical OCD checking is provided. Further research assessing both subjective memory performance and the strategies understood to support memory is needed to clarify the contribution of prospective memory to OCD checking.

Keywords

OCD checkingprospective memoryconfidence in memorymetamemory
Type
Standard Papers
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , 01 June 2010 , pp. 84 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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