Preoccupation with detail contributes to poor abstraction in women with anorexia nervosa

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Abstract
The present study investigated preoccupation with detail as a potential mechanism underlying poor abstraction in anorexia nervosa (AN). Abstract thinking performance of 24 women with AN (16–31 years) was compared against that of 24 healthy controls matched for age, education and socio-economic status, using the Object Assembly subtest of the WAIS III. Participants also completed measures of two indices of preoccupation with detail: field dependence-independence (Group Embedded Figures Test) and obsessionality (Leyton Obsessional Inventory). Perfectionism (Perfectionism subscale of the EDI-II) and mental rigidity (Trail Making Test), sub-components of obsessionality, were also measured. Women with AN showed a significant deficit in abstract thinking performance, which could not be explained by a more general intellectual deficit or diminished information processing speed. The AN sample also showed a greater preoccupation with detail relative to the control group. Controlling for preoccupation with detail reduced the group difference in abstract thinking to non-significance. However, only field dependence–independence contributed significantly to the relationship between group membership and abstract thinking performance. Thus, poor abstract thinking in AN appears to be at least partly attributable to a field-independent cognitive style, characterised by a bias towards focusing on detail at the expense of considering the gestalt.

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