AN INFORMATION-PROCESSING APPROACH TO COMPULSIVE CHECKING

Of the various obsessive-compulsive phenomena it seems that compulsive checking may be particularly likely to repay an information-processin g approach. There are indications that anxiety-targeted exposure metho ds are less appropriate to checking than cleaning. Also, repeated chec king appears to result from an initial failure to process information adequately. Recent findings from experimental research on cognitive pr ocesses in obsessive-compulsive patients (e.g. difficulties in selecti ve-set rather than filtering tasks, poor memory for actions, etc.) pro vide indications that compulsive checking may arise from a failure of information processing. Clinical observations indicate that the qualit y of information processing involved in checking deteriorates as check ing is repeated, due partly to a deterioration of mood and partly to p roactive interference. This suggests the use of cognitive strategies t o maximize the effectiveness of the first check, so as to reduce the n eed for repetition.