You are halfway down the stairs when a thought suddenly crosses your mind: Did I turn off the bathroom tap? You remember closing it, but you are not completely sure. You go back, check it and leave again.A few minutes later, another doubt appears. Was the front door properly locked? You may have checked it before leaving, but now you feel the need to return and try the handle once more.For some people, this happens regularly. They check the taps, switches, gas knobs and door locks before leaving home, yet the reassurance does not always last. Even after confirming that everything is in order, they may find themselves questioning whether they checked properly.Psychology offers one possible explanation: repeated checking can be connected to uncertainty and reduced confidence in one’s own memory. In some cases, the more a person checks, the less certain they may feel.
Why checking something again may make you trust your memory less
A 2023 systematic review titled ‘Memory confidence and memory accuracy deterioration following repeated checking’ examined 29 studies involving 2,180 participants. The researchers found that repeated checking was associated with a substantial decline in memory confidence, while its effect on actual memory accuracy was much smaller. In simple terms, people may become less confident that they remember performing an action correctly, even when their memory of what happened has not deteriorated to the same extent.This could help explain why someone who has already checked a locked door might still feel uncertain a few minutes later. They may remember turning the key, but the memory does not feel convincing enough to stop the doubt.The review also noted that the findings came largely from experimental studies and may not fully represent everyone who experiences compulsive checking in everyday life.
The more you check, the less reassured you may feel
AI representation/ChatGPT
An earlier experiment published in Behaviour Research and Therapy in 2006 examined this pattern using ordinary household objects. Researchers asked 50 undergraduate students to repeatedly switch a real kitchen stove on and off and check it, or perform a similar repeated checking task involving a kitchen tap.After 19 checking trials, participants who repeatedly checked the stove reported lower confidence in their memory, along with less vividness and detail when recalling the action. The researchers found that repeatedly checking an action could make people less certain about their memory of having performed it.A person may not be forgetting whether they turned off the switch or closed the tap. Instead, they may be finding it increasingly difficult to trust the memory of having done so.
When does this become more than an ordinary safety check?
Checking the front door before leaving home or making sure the gas is switched off is sensible. Most people occasionally return to verify something when they are distracted, tired or unsure whether they completed an action. The concern arises when checking becomes repetitive, distressing or difficult to resist, even after the person knows that the task has already been completed.A 2020 meta-analysis titled ‘Why check? A meta-analysis of checking in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Threat vs. distrust of senses’ examined 22 studies comparing 663 people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and 614 healthy controls.The researchers found greater checking among people with OCD during perceptual tasks. Their findings also supported the role of uncertainty and distrust of one’s senses in compulsive checking.Repeated checking is a recognised compulsion associated with OCD, but checking a door twice or returning to turn off a tap does not, by itself, mean someone has the condition.
What can help when checking becomes repetitive?
If you recognise this pattern, it may help to notice when a reasonable safety check turns into repeated reassurance-seeking.Complete one deliberate check: Pay attention while turning off the tap, switching off the appliance or locking the door instead of doing it automatically while distracted.Avoid rushing through the routine: A moment of attention can make it easier to remember completing the action.Notice the difference between a real concern and a recurring doubt: Ask yourself whether there is new information or whether the same uncertainty has returned.Seek professional help if it affects daily life: If checking takes up significant time, causes distress or makes you repeatedly return home, a mental health professional can help assess what is happening. Cognitive behavioural therapy, including exposure and response prevention, is an established treatment for OCD.The next time you find yourself checking the same switch or door lock again, consider whether you have genuinely forgotten the action or are struggling to trust that you remember it correctly. Sometimes, the difficulty is not remembering what you did. It is feeling certain enough to move on.