Report format and task complexity: Interaction in risk judgments

Abstract This study reports the results of an experiment to examine the effect of report format (graphic, tabular) and task complexity on the accuracy and bias of internal auditors' risk judgments. Accuracy is measured as the ability to discriminate between high and low risk reports, while bias is the propensity to report observing a high risk report, apart from the frequency of high risk reports in the population. Forty-seven experienced internal auditors judged the potential for error in each of 70 hypothetical reports. After controlling for individual differences, the results show a significant interaction between report format and task complexity, for both decision accuracy and bias. Implications are discussed.

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