Inferential confusion
Inferential confusion is a meta-cognitive state of confusion that becomes pathological when an individual fails to perceive reality correctly and considers an obsessional belief or subjective reality as an actual probability.[1] It causes an individual to mistrust their senses and relies on self-created narratives. This is because one eliminates evidence and the objectivity of events and tends to rely on the hypothetical reality that stems from memories, information, and associations that aren't related- therefore, it deals with the fictional nature of obsessions. This causes the individual to overestimate the threat. [2][3]
Inverse inference, the inverse of normal inference, is critical inferential confusion. A person starts out believing in the truthfulness of a theory even though evidence suggests otherwise. This type of inverse processing weakens the role of the senses and limits the part of sensory information, creating uncertainty about an actual state.[4][5]
Inferential confusion and psychopathology
Inferential confusion, i.e. “mistaking an imagined possibility for a real probability”, becomes pathological when the individual “crosses over from the real into the imaginary treating the imagined possibility as if it were real”.[6]
Several studies on inferential confusion and OCD have shown that inferential confusion is involved in OCD.[7]
References
- ^ Aardema, Frederick; O’Connor, Kieron P.; Emmelkamp, Paul M. G.; Marchand, André; Todorov, Christo (2005-03-01). "Inferential confusion in obsessive–compulsive disorder: the inferential confusion questionnaire". Behaviour Research and Therapy. 43 (3): 293–308. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2004.02.003. ISSN 0005-7967.
- ^ "Shibboleth Authentication Request". login.gate3.library.lse.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ "Shibboleth Authentication Request". login.gate3.library.lse.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ "Shibboleth Authentication Request". login.gate3.library.lse.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ "Inferential confusion moderates the effects of dissociative experiences on OCD symptoms severity in a clinical sample with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder | Clinical Neuropsychiatry". 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ Kieron O'Connor; Frederick Aardema (17 November 2011). Clinician's Handbook for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Inference-Based Therapy. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 96–. ISBN 978-1-119-95499-6.
- ^ Kieron O'Connor; Frederick Aardema; Marie-Claude Pélissier (24 June 2005). Beyond Reasonable Doubt: Reasoning Processes in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Related Disorders. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 130–. ISBN 978-0-470-86878-2.
Further reading
- Wong, S. F., & Grisham, J. R. (2018). Factors leading to immersion in obsessions. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology. Factors leading to immersion in obsessions
- Aardema, Frederick & O'Connor, Kieron. (2003). Seeing White Bears That Are Not There: Inference Processes in Obsessions. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy. 17. 23-37. 10.1891/jcop.17.1.23.58270.
- Vladimir Kalinin (2014). Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: The Old and the New Problems. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 978-953-51-1238-9.
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