A process approach to verbal memory assessment: Exploratory evidence of inefficient learning in women remitted from anorexia nervosa

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with deficits in set-shifting and cognitive flexibility, yet less is known about the persistence of these deficits after recovery and how they might contribute to reported difficulties organizing and learning new information. To address this question, the current study applied a process-focused approach, that accounts for errors and strategies by which a score is achieved, to investigate the relationship between verbal memory and executive function in women remitted from AN.

Method: Twenty-six women remitted from anorexia nervosa (RAN) and 25 control women (CW) aged 19–45 completed the California Verbal Learning Test, Second edition (CVLT-II) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Groups were compared on overall achievement scores, and on repetition, intrusion, and perseverative errors on both tests. Associations between learning and memory performance and WCST errors were also examined.

Results: RAN and CW groups did not differ on overall CVLT-II learning and memory performance or errors on the WCST, though the RAN group trended towards greater WCST non-perseverative and total errors. On the CVLT-II, the RAN group made significantly more repetition errors than CW (p = 0.010), and within-trial perseveration (WTP) errors (p = 0.044). For the CW group, CVLT-II learning and memory performance were negatively associated with errors on the WCST, whereas among RAN, primarily delayed memory was negatively correlated with WCST errors. Notably, for RAN, greater WCST perseverative responses were correlated with greater CVLT-II repetition and WTP errors, showing the convergence of perseverative responding across tasks.

Conclusions: Despite similar overall learning and memory performance, difficulties with executive control seem to persist even after symptom remission in patients with AN. Results indicate an inefficient learning process in the cognitive phenotype of AN and support the use of process approaches to refine neuropsychological assessment of AN by accounting for strategy use.

KEYWORDS:

• Anorexia nervosa
• California verbal learning test
• neuropsychology
• verbal learning
• error analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research and preparation of this manuscript were supported in part by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health [CEW (R01 MH113588), WHK (R01 MH042984; R01 MH092793)] the Price Foundation, and the Hilda and Preston Davis Foundation.