Expert Thinking: A Neuroaccounting EEG Experiment Measures Knowledge Development

• In Event: Teaching, Learning and Curriculum 2

Abstract

In this study, we conducted an experiment to measure the biological basis of learning accounting. We used an EEG to identify how accounting expertise develops from early exposure to accounting concepts and continues to grow throughout a future accountant's education. The EEG can measure knowledge development in the brain by tracking electrical impulses of neurons in reaction to stimuli. When comparing the neural networks of novice accounting students (who took introductory accounting) to experienced accounting students (who took intermediate accounting), results revealed that the brain structures differed between the novices and experienced students. Experienced students could identify miscategorized items in a list of assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses even though they were not instructed to recognize such discrepancies. The novice learners did not detect these discrepancies. This evidence supports the claim that knowledge can be biologically and directly measured. We share insights about accounting education, warning about the perils of shortcutting the biological processes involved in attaining accounting expertise.

Authors

• Marsha M Huber, Institute of Management Accountants

• Maria Paulina Kassawat, Youngstown State University

• Chen Chen, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

• Amanda Roby, Youngstown State University