Did I Forget to Lock the Door? The Link between Prospective Memory Failures and Doubt in the Compulsion to Check

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated links between prospective memory failures and checking compulsions. The findings suggest that experiences with prospective memory failures may contribute to the intrusive doubts that tasks were not completed that instigate checking compulsions. However, the link between prospective memory and intrusive doubts has yet to be empirically investigated. Accordingly, the present study focused on examining whether prospective memory failures are related to doubting, as well as whether doubting mediates the relationship between prospective memory and checking compulsions. Undergraduate students completed self-report measures of checking compulsions, doubting, prospective memory and retrospective memory. Participants also completed objective tests of prospective memory and retrospective memory. Prospective memory failures and excessive doubting showed consistent correlations. Two of three objective tests of prospective memory and one of two measures of confidence in performance on prospective memory tests showed significant correlations with checking. Tests of mediation showed that the links between checking compulsions, objective prospective memory test failures and confidence in prospective memory performance were mediated by doubting. The results thereby supported the hypothesis that experiences with prospective memory failures contribute to the intrusive doubts that instigate checking.