The Unique Research Paths between Professional Skepticism and fMRI: A Multidisciplinary Review

• In Event: Continental Breakfast and Research & Education Forum
  In Paper Session: Table 15: Professional Skepticism

Abstract

Neuroimaging research can advance our knowledge on fundamental accounting concepts, generally (Moser 2012; Birnberg and Ganguly 2012; Waymire 2014), and professional skepticism (hereafter, PS) specifically because the ultimate cause behind the observed audit results is the auditor’s brain. PS is one determinant of audit quality but it remains an unobserved concept in the models of PS (Nolder and Kadous 2014). This multidisciplinary review proposes unique paths to observe PS in the auditor’s brain through functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). First, this review provides a summary of relevant research on PS and a summary of relevant background on fMRI. In the last section, the review lists avenues for future neuroaccounting research to explore PS and suggests possible regions of interest (ROI) indicative of PS in the auditor’s brain.

Author

• Cardamine Carmen Olsen, Norwegian School of Economics