&gt;&gt;The threat—even an imagined threat—of a large bill made it difficult for poor people to focus on the cognitive tasks at hand.<p>This issue happens because one has to constantly juggle many priorities in the mind all at one time. This can come down very heavily on a person. To have to make decisions to chose one over the other, a.k.a making sacrifices can be soul depleting if done for a very long time.<p>There are often conflicting priorities many demanding attention at the same time. In case of trade off you often stand to lose something for the other.