The Role of the Emotional Arousal in Attentional and Memory Biases in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder(OCD)

Subject Areas : روان درمانگری

Hojjat Farahani ¹ (PhD student Isfahan University)
Hossein Naeli ² (PhD Isfahan University)
Hossein Molavi ³ (PhD Isfahan University)
Hamid T. Neshatdoost ⁴ (PhD Isfahan University)

Received: 2015-06-07 Accepted : 2015-06-07 Published : 2005-03-21

Keywords: obsessive compulsive disorder, attentional bias, stroop test,

Abstract :

This research examined the role of emotional arousal in attentional and memory biases among Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) patients. Using a quasi-experimental design, 20 OCD patients were compared to 20, randomly-seleced Isfahan university students. The Stroop Test was first administered to each participant, then he/she was shown 50 objects, some of which were dirty and some clean, and were told to remember them. The findings indicated that the OCD patients paid more attention to the arousal stimuli than to the neutral stimuli (p<0.000) and remembered the dirty objects more than the clean ones (p<0.000). The results show the relationship between attentional biases and memory and its perpetuation in OCD patients, and highlight the need to devote special attention to the different aspects of these biases to end a vicious circle in the treatment of these patients.