title: Did I turn off the stove? Good inhibitory control can protect from influences of repeated checking.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by compulsions aimed at reducing anxiety associated with intrusive cognitions. However, compulsive behaviors such as repeated checking were found to increase rather than decrease uncertainty related to obsessive thoughts (e.g., whether the gas stove was turned off). Some recent studies illustrate that OCD patients and their family members have inhibitory deficits, often demonstrated by the stop-signal task. The current study aims to investigate relations between inhibitory control and effects of repeated checking.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-five healthy participants carried out a stop-signal task followed by a repeated-checking task. Additionally, participants were asked to complete self-report questionnaires measuring OCD, anxiety and depression symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Confirming our hypothesis, participants with poor inhibitory capabilities demonstrated greater uncertainty and memory distrust as a consequence of repeated checking than participants with good inhibitory control.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings concern an initial investigation on a sample of healthy participants and should be replicated and extended to clinical populations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that deficits in inhibitory control may underlie cognitive vulnerability in OCD. An updated model integrating neuropsychological findings with current OCD models is suggested.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Linkovski
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalanthroff
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Henik
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Anholt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D003192:Compulsive Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011581:Psychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult