The Effects of Accounting Contexts on Accounting Decisions: A Synthesis of Cognitive and Economic Perspectives in Accounting Experimentation
Posted: 29 Dec 1998
Abstract
Towards the goal of merging psychological and economic insights in accounting experimentation, we categorize four ways that contextual richness in experimental materials can affect decisions. First, INFORMATION EFFECTS occur when context provides enhanced or clearer cues. Second, SALIENCE EFFECTS capture the potential for context to highlight certain cues over others. Third, MOTIVATION EFFECTS reflect the ability of context to reinforce the consequences of a decision. Fourth, MEMORY-CODING effects capture the interaction between context and the setting-specific expertise of the decision-maker. Several examples from the accounting literature are provided for each category, including studies that vary contextual richness as a separate treatment factor. Attuning to these sources of contextual sensitivity can help the accounting experimentalist to choose a level of contextual richness that is grounded more in case-specific theory than in the methodological dogma of either cognitive psychology or experimental economics.
JEL Classification: C90, M40
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