Psychological Science ›› 2015, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (5): 1264-1271.

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The Information Processing Flexibility of Obsessive-Compulsive Tendency Individuals

  

  • Received:2014-07-20 Revised:2015-06-03 Online:2015-09-20 Published:2015-09-20
  • Contact: ZHANG zhongming

强迫倾向个体的信息加工灵活性

苗小翠1,李益娟1,汪孟允1,张仲明2   

  1. 1. 西南大学
    2. 西南大学心理学部
  • 通讯作者: 张仲明

Abstract: Abstract Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common clinical psychological disease. A large number of studies have shown that OCD patients have cognitive dysfunction especially in attention, decision making, and information processing and so on. Previous studies of information processing in OCD focus on processing ways, but pay not so much attention to the flexibility of information processing which is a component of executive function. Moreover, OCD patients have deficiency in executive function. So we proposed that information processing flexibility could indirectly reflect the insufficiency of OCD patients in executive function. And it is necessary to explore the characteristics of OCD in the information processing flexible. In order to eliminate the effects of other comorbid factors, we use Padua Inventory to screen high obsessive-compulsive tendency (HOC) and low obsessive-compulsive tendency (LOC) individuals as the research objects from the university students. The final sample includes 11 HOC and 10 LOC participants. By adjusting the individual probability (i.e., before each trial to give clues to prompt probability), the study set the scene of different probabilities used in the Flanker task (consistent stimulus (HHHHH \ SSSSS) and inconsistent stimulus (HHSHH \ SSHSS)), to examine whether the obsessive-compulsive tendencies will have differential information processing ways because of the changes in different probabilities scenarios and to verify the differences of the information processing flexibility between the two groups. The study designed three clues including "+", "-", "?" , representing three kinds of signal probability: 80% (80% of the following stimulation would be consistent), 50%(50% of the following stimulation would be consistent), 20%(20% of the following stimulation would be consistent) .The reaction time and parallel processing index by the Flanker task were used as the dependent variable. The results showed that: (1) Under conditions with different probabilities clues, we found that the LOC participants have apparent differences in reaction time while the HOC participants have not; (2) Compared with the LOC participants, the HOC have a lower parallel processing index. What’s more, the parallel processing indexes of the LOC participants have significant differences under the three probability clues, but the HOC participants have not; (3) On probability forecast effectiveness of reaction time, the differences of the LOC participants on the valid and invalid expected probability were significant, while in the HOC participants were not. And ,the LOC participants showed less reaction time under the condition of valid expected probability than the invalid, suggesting that the LOC participants responds faster with valid expected probability than the invalid. Our findings suggested that: (1) the HOC participants may incline to use centralized information processing way which seems to be relatively slow and single; (2) the LOC participants may have a more flexible information processing way than the HOC. That is, the HOC group may deficit in the flexibility of information processing, showing less respond to the changes of situations than the LOC group; (3) the HOC participants could be less easily and affected by clue hint, and maybe lack in strategic control ability of information processing ways.

Key words: obsessive-compulsive tendency, information processing flexibility, focused processing, parallel processing index, cue validity

摘要: 摘 要 以高低强迫倾向个体为研究对象,考察其在不同概率情景设置的Flanker任务中的信息加工灵活性,研究结果表明:高强迫倾向个体的信息加工方式相对较缓慢、单一,以集中加工方式为主;高强迫倾向个体对情境的变化较少做出反应,在信息加工的灵活性上存在缺陷,而低倾向个体的信息加工方式相对较灵活;高强迫倾向个体不易受线索提示的影响,对信息加工方式的策略性调控能力不足。

关键词: 强迫倾向, 信息加工灵活性, 并行加工指数, 集中加工, 线索有效性