ABSTRACT
Based primarily on concepts and paradigms from neuropathology and experimental psychology, numerous studies have been conducted with the aim of identifying in various mental disorders dysfunctions or deficits in the basic modes of information processing, such as attention, memory, and thinking. In virtue of its symptomatological characteristics, various studies have also attempted to identify specific deficits associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly with regard to executive functions or memory. This chapter aims to present the approach through eight principal lines of research: memory, reality monitoring, perception, attention, reading comprehension, reasoning, inferential confusion, and inhibitory control. Some studies have hypothesised that individuals with OCD do not have general memory deficits, but deficits specific to the domains in which their particular obsessive fears are involved. Inhibitory control is understood as the capacity to control the interference of stimuli irrelevant to the pursuit of a fixed objective.
