British Journal of Medical Psychology · 1987 · 69 citations · 0 references
Social SciencesPsychologySocial PsychologyCognitive PsychologyExperimental PsychologySocial CognitionAttentional ControlObsessive-compulsive DisordersReaction TimeTheory Of MindReplacement
It was proposed that the greater time taken to dismiss intrusive compared with neutral thoughts is better explained in terms of a decreased ability to disattend to the intrusive thought than a decreased ability to access a more pleasant replacement thought. A study of 43 subjects with 'normal obsessions' using a methodology that controlled the valence and content of replacement thoughts provided support for this disattention hypothesis.