The phenomenon where individuals consistently choose to address smaller tasks first (defined as involving less work), and continue to focus on smaller tasks, even when it is less efficient. 

Point Loma Nazarene University

A study designed to examine whether participants were prone to the "small tasks trap" bias and the impact of starting with a smaller task or larger task on overall performance through a task management game. 

The Psychology of Task Management: The Smaller Tasks Trap

Rusou, Z., Amar, M., & Ayal, S. (2020). The Psychology of task management: The smaller tasks trap. Judgment and Decision Making, 15(4), 586–599. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1930297500007518

1. Previous research shows that people are motivated to minimize cognitive effort needed to achieve tasks, but also minimize the “time on task”
2. Flawed evaluations of task information might yield a suboptimal preference for smaller tasks. Focusing on the local (rather than global) level of the goal might create a tendency to start with the smaller tasks and stick to them, even when this strategy results in being less rewarding than prioritizing larger tasks 
3. To better understand the considerations driving a task prioritization, an incitive-compatible task management game was created 

Introduction (The Psychology of Task Management: The Smaller Tasks Trap)

1. Simulated a real-life, multiple-tasks environment in a real estate company. Participants were presented with 30 tasks (15 smaller tasks and 15 larger tasks) each requiring retrieval of information from a price-list of apartments.
2. Participants were required to make repeated task scheduling choices within a fixed time interval of 15 minutes. During this time, they could earn points to enter lotteries for shopping coupons. (The number of points earned were contingent on the number and type of tasks completed). 
3. Since participants were informed they couldn’t complete all the takes within the allotted timeframe, their goal was to schedule tasks in a way that would maximize the overall number of points earned. 

The Study: Task Management Game (The Psychology of Task Management: The Smaller Tasks Trap)

1. Discussion of Results
2. Limitations
3. Implications

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