Operating under limited resources poses significant demands on the cognitive system. Here we demonstrate that people under time scarcity failed to detect time-saving cues as they occur in the environment (Experiment 1a). These time-saving cues, if noticed, would have saved time for the time-poor participants. Moreover, the visuospatial proximity of the time-saving cues to the focal task determined successful detection, suggesting that scarcity altered the spatial scope of attention (Experiment 1b & 1c). People under time scarcity were also more likely to forget previous instructions to execute future actions (Experiment 2). These instructions, if remembered and followed, would have saved time for the time-poor participants. Failures of online detection and prospective memory are problematic because they cause neglect and forgetting of beneficial information, perpetuating the condition of scarcity. The current study provides a new cognitive account for the counterproductive behaviors in the poor, and relevant implications for interventions.

Resource scarcity poses challenging demands on the human cognitive system. Budgeting with limited resources induces an attentional focus on the problem at hand. This focus enhances processing of relevant information, but it also comes with a cost. Specifically, scarcity may cause a failure to notice beneficial information that helps alleviate the condition of scarcity. In three experiments, participants were randomly assigned with a small budget (“the poor”) or a large budget (“the rich”) to order a meal from a restaurant menu. The poor participants looked longer at the prices of the items and recalled the prices more accurately, compared to the rich participants. Importantly, the poor neglected a useful discount that would save them money. This neglect may arise as a result of attentional narrowing, and help explain a range of counter- productive behaviors of low-income individuals. The current findings have important implications for public policy and services for low-income individuals.