Perseverative and compulsive-like staring causes uncertainty about perception.

Abstract

Earlier studies found that perseverative checking provokes memory distrust for checked stimuli, suggesting that compulsive checking is a counterproductive 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 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. Both in the experimental and in the control conditions, dissociation was observed; the effects being 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. It is suggested that all forms of OC perseveration share such interference and that all undermine confidence in cognitive operations.