An investigation of experienced auditors' knowledge structures: A reaction time test

This dissertation extends prior research by investigating knowledge structures for financial statement errors, using a reaction time method, which previously has not been used to examine these issues. The two candidate knowledge structures, cycle and error type, have been identified in previous research. In the former, knowledge is structured around the transaction cycle from which the error originated (e.g., sales, purchase, payroll or inventory). In contrast, knowledge is structured around the type of error (e.g., cut-off, misclassification, mathematical accuracy, etc.) in an error-type organization. This dissertation also examines the links between knowledge structures and experience. Consistent with the psychology literature, theories have been forwarded hypothesizing an association between overall audit experience and knowledge structure. This link is examined. Recently, however, some counter-arguments emphasizing the differences between the auditing and psychology contexts, have called this hypothesis into question. Consistently, I employed a second experience measure, the amount of industry-relevant experience. A third measure, the amount of recent industry experience, is developed. Addressing a third goal, an exploratory investigation is performed of the relationship between knowledge structure and task performance.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Business Administration, Accounting

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Date dc:date

10000-01-01

Author dc:creator

• Hansa, John Joseph

Contributors dc:contributor

• Solomon, Ira

• Business Administration, Accounting
• Psychology, Experimental

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 1994 Hansa, John Joseph

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

AAI9512386
(UMI)AAI9512386

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/23758