Radomsky A S, Rachman S
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Behav Res Ther. 1999 Jul;37(7):605-18. doi: 10.1016/s0005-7967(98)00151-x.
There is a memory bias associated with depression, and good reason to expect a memory bias associated with anxiety. However, the results of studies reported to date have been ambiguous. Accordingly, an experiment was conducted to assess memory for contamination in people with different types of anxiety. Memory for contaminated stimuli among participants who met DSM-IV criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and indicated a fear of contamination (n = 10) was compared to memory in a group of anxious controls (n = 10), and in undergraduate students (n = 20). Participants were shown 50 objects, 25 of which were contaminated by the experimenter and 25 which were touched but not contaminated. They then completed a neuropsychological memory assessment, after which the participants were asked to recall all of the objects touched by the experimenter. They were then 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. The 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.
存在一种与抑郁症相关的记忆偏差，因此有充分理由预期会存在一种与焦虑症相关的记忆偏差。然而，迄今为止所报道的研究结果一直不明确。因此，进行了一项实验，以评估不同类型焦虑症患者对污染的记忆。将符合《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第四版（DSM-IV）强迫症（OCD）标准且表现出对污染恐惧的参与者（n = 10）对受污染刺激的记忆，与一组焦虑症对照者（n = 10）以及本科生（n = 20）的记忆进行比较。向参与者展示50个物品，其中25个被实验者污染，25个被触碰但未被污染。然后他们完成了一项神经心理学记忆评估，之后要求参与者回忆实验者触碰过的所有物品。接着要求他们走近每个物品并对触碰它时的焦虑程度进行评分。最后，询问参与者对每个物品清洁程度的看法。强迫症组对受污染物品的记忆比对清洁物品的记忆更好。两个对照组均未表现出这种偏差。神经心理学测试分数表明，这种偏差并非一般记忆能力差异的结果。将根据强迫症的记忆缺陷理论以及理解信息处理在恐惧和焦虑中作用的行为和认知方法来讨论这些结果。
