A computerized version of the object alternation test (OAT) was employed in unmedicated obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients and matched healthy controls. OCD patients performed normally on the OAT but scored below controls on a task assessing visuo-spatial working memory. The results challenge the concept of the OAT as a sensitive instrument for orbitofontal dysfunction in OCD. (C) 2004 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.