Memory and memory confidence in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Pathological doubt, often found in individuals with obsessive-compulsive di sorder (OCD), has been theoretically linked to memory deficits, but empiric al evidence for such deficits has been mixed. In contrast, many studies sug gest that individuals with OCD have low confidence in their memories. The p resent study aimed to build upon previous research by measuring memory accu racy and confidence in OCD using ecologically valid, idiographically-select ed stimuli. Individuals with OCD (OCs), anxious controls (ACs), and nonanxi ous controls (NACs) were exposed to a set of objects that the OCs had ident ified as safe, unsafe, or neutral. Participants were then asked to recall a s many objects as possible and to rate their confidence in each memory. Thi s process was repeated 6 times, using the same stimuli for each trial. Cont rary to hypothesis, no group differences emerged in memory accuracy. Howeve r, OCs' memory confidence for unsafe objects showed a progressive decline o ver repeated trials. This pattern was not observed among NACs or ACs. Furth ermore, OCs with primary checking reported lower confidence in long-term me mory than did OCs without primary checking. These results suggest that when OCs are repeatedly exposed to threat-related stimuli (such as repeated che cking), their level of confidence in remembering these stimuli paradoxicall y decreases. 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. (C) All rights reserved.