Memory bias in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

There is a memory bias associated with depression, and there is good reason to expect such a bias associated with anxiety, but results to date have been ambiguous. Accordingly, a study was conducted to assess memory for contamination in individuals with different types of anxiety. Participants who met DSM-IV criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and indicated a fear of contamination (n=8), a group of anxious controls (n=8), and undergraduate students (n=20) participated in this study. Participants were shown 50 objects: 25 which were contaminated by the experimenter, and 25 which were touched but not contaminated. After completing a neuropsychological memory assessment, participants were asked to recall all of the objects touched by the experimenter. Then, participants were asked to approach each object and to rate their anxiety about touching it. Finally, participants were asked about their perceptions of the cleanliness of each object. The OCD group had better memory for contaminated objects than for clean ones. Neither control group showed such a bias. Neuropsychological test scores indicated that this bias is not the result of differences in general memory ability. Results are discussed in terms of the memory-deficit theory of OCD and of behavioural and cognitive approaches to understanding the role of information processing in fear and anxiety.Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofGraduat