Search

The seeking proxies for internal states (SPIS) model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) postulates an association between OCD and a deficient ability to access inner states, leading to a reliance on external proxies perceived as indicators internal states (Dar et al., 2021). This study will investigate the effect of a mindfulness meditation on access to internal states in a student sample, using a muscle tension task. Previous research estimated access to internal states by measuring participants’ accuracy level in a muscle tension task. A OCD analogous student sample (high OCD tendencies) and participants clinically diagnosed with OCD were found to be less accurate in reproducing specific muscle tension levels, when compared to controls (Lazarov et al., 2012; Lazarov et al., 2014). *Place holder for mindfulness definition and evidence The proposed study continues this line of research in a student sample, hypothesizing that a single mindfulness-meditation session will have a positive impact on the accuracy of muscle tension levels reproduction amongst participants with high OCD tendencies.

Previous research has shown that participants with high obsessive-compulsive tendencies (OC+) struggle when searching for an absent target. In studies supporting this notion, participants performed a visual search task in which they searched for a closed square among open squares. Results revealed no differences in target-present trials, however, in target-absent trials, OC+ participants searched longer. These findings were replicated and extended to a clinical sample, where they were found to be specific to patients with OCD and absent in those suffering from anxiety. These findings were discussed in the context of checking behavior in the face of mild uncertainty. In a recent conceptual replication study we designed, we did not find longer search times in target-absent trials for OC+ participants. That being said, our paradigm was not a direct replication of the original studies. Here we use the same stimuli from the original study, in an online sample to determine if our failure to replicate the effect was due to an overly easy task.

Inference about the absence of a target is qualitatively different than inference about the presence of one. While the latter is established from a signal evident in the external world, the former is based on the internal belief of not having missed the target. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by inflated levels of doubt and difficulty accessing internal states. Previous research has shown that obsessive-compulsive participants indeed struggle when searching for an absent target; however, results were confounded by heightened uncertainty. In this study, we designed a paradigm intended to decouple absence from difficulty to probe the specific effects of obsessive-compulsive tendencies on visual processing and decision making in the absence of a target. High and low OC participants will be presented with 96 visual search displays and asked to decide whether a target is "absent" or "present." In addition, participants will provide information about explicit metacognitive knowledge to probe for discrepancies between behavior and belief. By introducing an easy target-absent condition, we can dissociate specific difficulties with inference about absence from more general difficulties with uncertainty. This experiment will provide key information about interactions between obsessive-compulsive tendencies and inference about absence, which are an essential window into OCD and metacognitive impairments.

The planned sample size and analyses are detailed in the "pre registration" documents.

Inference about the absence of a target is qualitatively different than inference about the presence of one. While the latter is established from a signal evident in the external world, the former is based on the internal belief of not having missed the target. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by inflated levels of doubt and difficulty accessing internal states. Previous research has shown that obsessive-compulsive participants indeed struggle when searching for an absent target; however, results were confounded by heightened uncertainty. In this study, we designed a paradigm intended to decouple absence from difficulty to probe the specific effects of obsessive-compulsive tendencies on visual processing and decision making in the absence of a target. High and low OC participants will be presented with 96 visual search displays and asked to decide whether a target is "absent" or "present." In addition, participants will provide information about explicit metacognitive knowledge to probe for discrepancies between behavior and belief. By introducing an easy target-absent condition, we can dissociate specific difficulties with inference about absence from more general difficulties with uncertainty. This experiment will provide key information about interactions between obsessive-compulsive tendencies and inference about absence, which are an essential window into OCD and metacognitive impairments.