The comparison of false memory and memory confidence in women with obsessive- compulsive disorder and normal women

Aim and The forgetfulness or memory deficit hypothesis in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) has been used to explain the maintenance of repetitive behaviors in these patients. Yet the majority of studies focusing on memory of patients with OCD show mixed results. The aim of this study was to compare of false memory and memory confidence in women with obsessive–compulsive disorder and normal women. Methods and Materials: Using available sampling method and according inclusion criteria، in casual/comparative design format، 26 women with OCD from Zanjan city were selected and after matching with 26 normal women on the base age and educational level variables assessed by memory confidence and false memory test task. The results of independent T-test indicated that women with obsessive– compulsive disorder in comparison with normal women show a higher false memory in threat based words and are weaker in memory confidence. The results of this study indicate the presence of threat based false memory in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder and seems that the repeated behaviors of these individuals are a result of lack confidence in their memory.