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

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), subcomponents 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.