Context and the inverse base rate effect

Recent categorization research set in abstract medical diagnosis contexts has demonstrated an ‘inverse base rate effect’, whereby subjects make diagnoses which are consistent with base rates when presented with some sets of symptoms, but inconsistent with base rates when presented with other sets of symptoms. This paper reports three experiments which demonstrate that whether or not the inverse base rate effect is observed depends on the context in which categorization takes place. Inverse base rate effects are replicated in the abstract medical diagnosis context used in prior research, but not in a relatively realistic financial auditing setting, a less realistic financial auditing setting, or a very abstract generic setting. These results indicate that the inverse base rate effect may not generalize to applied settings, suggesting that interventions designed to mitigate the inverse base rate effect should not be instituted without first determining the existence of the effect in the particular setting in question.     

Eliminating recency with self‐review: the case of auditors' ‘going concern’ judgments

This paper examines the use of self‐review to debias recency. Recency is found in the ‘going concern’ judgments of staff auditors, but is successfully eliminated by the auditor's use of a simple self‐review technique that would be extremely easy to implement in audit practice. Auditors who self‐review are also less inclined to make audit report choices that are inconsistent with their going concern judgments. These results are important because the judgments of staff auditors often determine the type and extent of documentation in audit workpapers and serve as preliminary inputs for senior auditors' judgments and choices. If staff auditors' judgments are affected by recency, the impact of this bias may be impounded in the ultimate judgments and choices of senior auditors. Since biased judgments can expose auditors to significant costs involving extended audit procedures, legal liability and diminished reputation, simple debiasing techniques that reduce this exposure are valuable. The paper also explores some future research needs and other important issues concerning judgment debiasing in applied professional settings. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of competitive reward distribution on auditing and competitive responding

This study allowed subjects to audit each other's responding during a series of competitive contests. Six pairs of female college students competed in 3-min contests in which the competitive response was a knob pull. A sum of money was divided using a proportional distribution or a 100%/0% reward distribution. In the proportional distribution, a subject's proportion of the sum was her proportion of the total number of responses. Also, in every contest either subject could make a response that would end the contest prematurely and give both subjects the same amount: a sum equal to 33% of the competitive total. Each subject could press either or both of two audit buttons that displayed her own and the other's response total for 10 s. Results replicated earlier findings in showing the superiority of the proportional distribution in total number of competitive responses made. No subject audited continuously, and only 1 audited most of the time. Most audits were interpersonal, including both own and other's scores. Auditing typically was more frequent in 100%/0% contests in which subjects were more likely to stop the contest when they were far behind. Winners were more likely to audit than were losers. Competitive response rates increased when the differences revealed by audits were small and decreased when they were large. Overall audit patterns were consistent with the view that feedback as "news" is more often sought when it can lead to improved outcomes.     

我国环境审计研究回顾与展望

上世纪90年代以来,随着环境问题的日益突出以及环保观念的日益增强,我国涌现出大量环境审计研究成果,其主题既涉及环境审计的概念、目标、对象、理论框架等基本理论,也涉及环境审计技术方法等应用理论。然而,现有研究存在过于偏重基本理论而忽视应用理论、过于偏重规范分析而忽视实证研究、过于偏重合规性政府环境审计而忽视环境绩效审计以及企业环境审计等不足。未来应当在借鉴国外有益经验的基础上,联系我国实际,综合运用多种方法,进一步对环境审计的理论框架、主体等问题展开系统研究,尤其应在进一步研究政府环境审计相关理论和应用问题的同时加大企业环境审计的研究力度。