Improving Auditors’ Fraud Judgments Using a Frequency Response Mode

One hundred and fifty auditors participated in a study that examines whether auditors’ probabilistic judgments are closer to a Bayesian benchmark when auditors make judgments using a frequency response mode versus a probability response mode. We test a series of hypotheses that examine the effect of using a frequency response mode by professional auditors both within and outside their knowledge domain (fraud or medical case context) on assessing the likelihood of rare events. The results show that the auditors’ responses across the two case contexts (fraud and medical case) using a frequency response mode are closer to the Bayesian benchmark. In addition, we find that (1) the deviations in the auditors’ responses from the Bayesian benchmark across both response modes are significantly smaller for the fraud case in the low base rate condition only and (2) the deviations in the auditors’ responses from Bayesian benchmark for the fraud case using a frequency response mode relative to the probability response mode are smaller in the low base rate condition than the other two base rate conditions. These findings contribute to research on auditor judgment and decision-making, and demonstrate how the use of a frequency response mode can improve auditors’ assessment of fraud.

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