Childhood scarcity has long lasting effects that remain visible during adulthood. Much of the literature suggests that these effects are mostly negative, but some theories such as the Life History...Show moreChildhood scarcity has long lasting effects that remain visible during adulthood. Much of the literature suggests that these effects are mostly negative, but some theories such as the Life History Theory have inspired studies that show positive effects of childhood scarcity. The current work aims to highlight the effects of experiencing childhood scarcity on adult cognitive performance in a current financial scarcity situation. We hypothesized that people who experienced childhood scarcity performed better, on a memory and attention task during a situation of current financial scarcity, then people who had not experienced such scarcity. To test their memory we used a restaurant menu containing dishes with prices and calories that participants had to recall; further, to measure attentional shifting, the menu contained a discount code that participant could copy and paste in order to save money. In the experiment 190 participants were randomly assigned to two groups – respectively low budget and high budget condition. The hypotheses were not confirmed, however a significant effect of childhood scarcity on the memory of dishes’ prices and calories was found.Show less
