Research has found that auditors exhibit recency effects in revising initial beliefs or hypotheses. This project will investigate factors which may moderate auditors' susceptibility to order effects. Research has also found that auditors are predisposed to focus on negative evidence as compared to positive evidence. These two effects may interact. This project will test the Belief Adjustment Model of Hogarth and Einhorn as a basis for predictions about how recency effects can be eliminated or mitigated in settings in which auditors are highly sensitive to negative information. The study should provide insight regarding the prevalence of order effects among professionals exposed to unique decision environments who may respond to risks in the decision setting by using adaptive belief revision strategies to moderate the recency effects found in earlier research. The results could then be used to develop procedures for improving the quality of the decision process.
