Date of Award
May 2024
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Han Joo Lee
Committee Members
Christine Larson, Shawn Cahill
Keywords
"Not Just Right" Experiences, Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms, Response Inhibition
Abstract
One common motivator for obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms is known as “not just right” experiences (NJREs), a multi-faceted construct that is relevant to multiple clinical diagnoses. NJREs are rooted in the idea that stimuli of different modalities can evoke feelings of incompleteness, discomfort, or something being “not right.” Research on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has primarily focused on harm avoidance symptoms, a symptom motivator that is separable from NJREs. Although NJREs are a common experience for individuals with OCD and can coexist with harm-avoidant symptoms, regard for the perpetuation and mechanisms of NJRE-based symptoms is lacking. Notably, there is much attention given to the perpetuation of harm-avoidant symptoms regarding response inhibition (RI) deficits. RI, or the ability to withhold inappropriate or unwanted pre-potent responses during goal-driven behavior, is a key component employed in cognitive behavioral therapies for OCD and deserves consideration for those who present with NJRE-based symptoms.
In this study, we aim to test whether three validated measures of NJRE severity are associated with response inhibition deficits and whether the ability to inhibit a pre-potent response in the presence of “not just right” stimuli is related to heightened NJREs. Utilizing two go/no-go tasks, one neutral and one with “not just right” specific stimuli, we will examine the relationship between the level of participant NJRE severity and commission errors. We will then determine, while examining relevant covariates, whether there is significance in level of NJRE severity to predict performance on the NJRE-related go/no-go task. Lastly, we will explore whether NJRE RI deficits can predict aspects of OC symptoms.
Recommended Citation
Acenowr, Cohley, "Beyond “Not Just Right”: Predicting Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Severity through Context-Specific Response Inhibition Deficits" (2024). Theses and Dissertations. 3442.
https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/3442