Evidence for proactive interference effects in repetitive checking tasks
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7163271 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Daniel J Burns (0000-0002-2305-6117, Union College, corresponding author), Nuo Chen (0000-0002-1267-1982, Union College), Kailin X Zhu (Union College), K J Zhu (0000-0002-4365-8043, Union College), Siqi X Jia (Union College), Siqi Jia (0000-0001-6439-457X, Union College), Rebecca Tegiacchi (Union College) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 604-618 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-28 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Memory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0965-8211 • E-ISSN: 1464-0686 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09658211.2025.2503404 |
| PMID | 40415718 |
| OpenAlex | W4410754493 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 55 |
Why does repeatedly checking one's actions, a common behaviour of those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), undermine memory confidence? The most accepted explanation is that repetitive checking decreases confidence by increasing familiarity with the task, leading to the encoding of fewer perceptual details. We argue that checking, per se, does not decrease memory confidence. Rather, the experimental procedure that has been used to assess checking across repeated trials induces proactive interference (PI), causing the drop in confidence. We conducted three experiments in which participants repeatedly checked three different food items in a virtual refrigerator, with memory accuracy and confidence tested after the first and last trials. All three experiments showed that recall of the items presented on each trial, and confidence in the accuracy of the recalled items, decreased across trials, implying a build-up of PI. Experiments 2 and 3 also demonstrated that providing a category cue on the last trial eliminated the decline, suggesting a release from PI. Moreover, Experiment 3 showed that checking within a specific trial increased accuracy and confidence. This result suggests that the decline across trials is due to PI and that checking, per se, improves accuracy and confidence. Implications for individuals with OCD are discussed
Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Interference theory · Telecommunications · Working memory · Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes · Communication · Computer Science · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies · Neuroscience · Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders · Psychology
Some Tests of the Decay Theory of Immediate Memory
Development of the short version of the spielberger state—trait anxiety inventory
The epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication
Short-term retention of individual verbal items.
The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory
Levels of processing
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |