"When people enter into that pattfern of thinking,"says Kendall Taylor, "it's cognitively comfortable to make sense of issues of poverty in that way.

Practicing a piece of music for four hours requires focused attention, but it is nowhere near as cognitively demanding as a sleepover with 14-year-old girls.

Although it is possible that only people who are cognitively healthy would pursue such activities, those who read newspapers or magazines or played music did not show similar benefits.