What cognitive distortion involves focusing on only peripheral details and drawing conclusions without acknowledging relevant information?

Selective abstraction is a cognitive distortion that specifically involves concentrating on specific details of a situation while ignoring the larger context or other pertinent information. This can lead an individual to make flawed conclusions based on an incomplete understanding of the situation. For example, someone might focus on one negative comment within a broader positive feedback and come to the conclusion that they are not competent, disregarding all the supportive feedback they received.

In contrast, overgeneralization refers to making broad conclusions based on a single event or piece of evidence, while dichotomous thinking is a cognitive distortion where individuals see things in black-and-white terms without recognizing the nuances. Maximization involves exaggerating the importance of certain aspects of a situation, but it does not specifically refer to the selective focus on peripheral details. Therefore, selective abstraction is the most accurate term for the distortion described in the question.