van den Hout Marcel A, Engelhard Iris M, de Boer Charlotte, du Bois Agnes, Dek Eliane
Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, PO Box 80140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Behav Res Ther. 2008 Dec;46(12):1300-4. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2008.09.002. Epub 2008 Sep 24.
Earlier studies have found that perseverative checking provokes memory distrust for checked stimuli, suggesting that compulsive checking is a counter-productive strategy to increase memory confidence. Obsessive Compulsive (OC) uncertainty also occurs for functions other than memory, like perception. Uncertainty about perception in OC patients gives rise to prolonged attending to the issues that patients feel uncertain about. In an experiment with 40 healthy volunteers, it was tested whether OC-like, perseverative (visual) attending induces OC-like experiences of dissociation and perceptual uncertainty. Participants had to look at an object (a gas stove or a light bulb) during a pre-test and a post-test. In between these tests, participants in the experimental condition were asked to stare at an object that was the same as the to-be-looked-at object during the pre/post-tests. Participants in the control condition stared at an object that was different from the object they looked at during pre/post-test. Both in the experimental and control conditions, dissociation was observed; the effects were equally strong. Critically, with regards to OC-like perceptual uncertainty, the effects were significantly stronger in the experimental condition. The findings indicate that OC-like perseveration induces distrust, not only about memory, but also about perception. To explain the results, we suggest that perseveration interferes with spreading of activation and that cognitive uncertainty (and possibly derealisation) is the experiential end-product of perseveration. It is suggested that all forms of OC perseveration share such interference and that all undermine confidence in cognitive operations.
早期研究发现，反复检查会引发对已检查刺激的记忆不信任，这表明强迫性检查是一种适得其反的策略，无法增强记忆信心。除记忆外，强迫观念与强迫行为（OC）中的不确定性也会出现在其他功能中，比如感知。OC患者对感知的不确定性会导致他们长时间关注那些他们感到不确定的问题。在一项针对40名健康志愿者的实验中，研究人员测试了类似OC的、持续性的（视觉）关注是否会引发类似OC的解离体验和感知不确定性。在预测试和后测试期间，参与者必须看着一个物体（煤气炉或灯泡）。在这两次测试之间，实验条件组的参与者被要求盯着一个与预测试/后测试期间要观看的物体相同的物体。对照组的参与者盯着一个与他们在预测试/后测试期间看到的物体不同的物体。在实验条件组和对照组中均观察到了解离现象；两者的效果同样强烈。关键的是，就类似OC的感知不确定性而言，实验条件组的效果明显更强。研究结果表明，类似OC的持续性不仅会引发对记忆的不信任，还会引发对感知的不信任。为了解释这些结果，我们认为持续性会干扰激活的扩散，并且认知不确定性（以及可能的现实解体）是持续性的体验性最终产物。有人提出，所有形式的OC持续性都存在这种干扰，并且都会破坏对认知操作的信心。
