Attention in sub-clinical obsessive-compulsive checkers

The aim of the study was to explore differential attention profiles, according to attention types, in sub-clinical obsessive-compulsive checkers compared to controls. To examine attention biases in obsessive-compulsive phenomena, we compared sub-clinical checkers to non-checkers on their recall and recognition performances, using neutral and threat-relevant stimuli in three attention paradigms: focused attention, divided attention, and passive attention. Forty-six volunteer university students participated in the study: 24 checkers (14 males, 10 females), and 22 non-checkers (15 males, 7 females). We found that the checkers’ recall and recognition performances were higher than those of the non-checkers for threat-relevant stimuli. Even though instructions and tasks were different in each attention paradigm, the checkers showed similar attention biases in all paradigms. Results indicate that there is an attention bias in obsessive-compulsive checkers that is independent from the type of attention.