Attentional Trade-Offs Under Resource Scarcity

Abstract

Resource scarcity poses challenging demands on the cognitive system. Budgeting with limited resources induces an attentional focus on the problem at hand, but it also comes with a cost. Specifically, scarcity causes a failure to notice beneficial information in the environment, or remember to execute actions in the future, that help alleviate the condition of scarcity. This neglect may arise as a result of attentional narrowing. Attentional trade-offs under scarcity can further determine memory encoding. In seven experiments, we demonstrated that participants under scarcity prioritized price information but neglected a useful discount when ordering food from a menu (Experiment 1); they showed better recall for information relevant to the focal task at a subsequent surprise memory test (Experiments 2 and 3); they performed more efficiently on the focal task but neglect a useful cue in the environment that could save them resources (Experiments 4-6); and they failed to remember the previous instructions to execute future actions that could save them resources (Experiment 7). These results collectively demonstrate that scarcity fundamentally shapes the way people process information in the environment, by directing attention to the most urgent task, while inducing a neglect of other information that can be beneficial. The attentional neglect and memory failures may lead to suboptimal behaviors that further aggravate the condition of scarcity. The results provide new insights on the behaviors of the poor, and also important implications for public policy and the design of welfare services and programs for low-income individuals.iii Lay SummaryScarcity is the condition of having insufficient resources (e.g., money, time), which presents significant challenges to the cognitive system. For example, scarcity directly impairs intelligence and can cause myopic behaviours. This neglect may arise as a result of attentional narrowing. We propose that scarcity shapes the way people process information in the environment by directing attention to the most urgent task, while inducing a neglect of other information that can be beneficial. In seven laboratory experiments, we demonstrate how scarcity causes people to prioritize task-relevant information, which facilitates memory performance, but also comes at the expense of neglecting other useful information in the environment. Ironically, this neglected information can help alleviate the condition of scarcity itself. The results provide new insights on the behaviors of the poor, and important implications for public policy and the design of welfare services and programs for low-income individuals.iv Preface These studies were conducted at the Behavioral Sustainability Lab at the University of British Columbia. All experimental design, data collection, and data analysis was conducted by the lead author, Brandon M. Tomm, under the supervision of Dr. Jiaying Zhao. Data was collected with the help of research assistants at the Behavioral Sustainability Lab.

Poverty and limited attention

“…In addition, Shah et al ( , 2019 provide evidence that subjects with scarce resources focus more on problems related to scarcity than subjects who do not face scarcity. Zhao & Tomm (2017) confirm this finding in an eye-tracking study. This increased focus on problems of scarcity might explain the increased load on cognitive functions.…”

“…Bartoš et al (2018) measure sustained attention and find no effect of priming people to think of hard financial problems on sustained attention (number of inspected options, decision time, and likelihood to stay at default option). Zhao & Tomm (2017) analyze the attention of subjects to additional information that helps subjects in their primary task. Zhao & Tomm (2017) find that subjects experiencing scarcity use the additional information less if the information is presented away from the center of the spatial focus but not too far away.…”

“…Zhao & Tomm (2017) analyze the attention of subjects to additional information that helps subjects in their primary task. Zhao & Tomm (2017) find that subjects experiencing scarcity use the additional information less if the information is presented away from the center of the spatial focus but not too far away. In general, this literature focuses on attention to expected events and/or on attention to events related to the financial burdens of poverty.…”

Poverty and economic decision making: a review of scarcity theory

“…Studies testing the hypotheses of scarcity theory reflect three types of study designs. First, laboratory experiments often exogenously induce scarcity by varying levels of resources (e.g., time, attempts, budgets) to be used in a task or game (see e.g., Shah et al , 2019Spiller 2011;Zhao and Tomm 2017). Because the researcher has full control over the environment, this method helps to detect the causality of relationships and to gain insights into its underlying mechanisms.…”

Distinct impacts of financial scarcity and natural resource scarcity on sustainable choices and motivations

“…Participants were recruited on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Based on a prior effect size of financial scarcity ( d = 0.43 based on a between‐subjects comparison between scarcity and abundance conditions; Zhao & Tomm, 2017), a power analysis suggested a minimum sample size of N = 284 was required to achieve a power of .95 ( α = .05), with a minimum of N = 142 in the scarcity or the abundance condition to detect the main effect of financial scarcity. Therefore, we collected responses from a total of 507 participants on Mturk, who were compensated with US$0.50 each for completing the experiment online.…”