Effects of data visualization choices on psychophysiological responses, judgment, and audit quality

We conduct experiments with Big 4 auditors and business students to investigate psychophysiological responses to Big Data visualizations and the effects of visualization techniques on auditor judgment and audit quality. Results of the first experiment using pupillometry, eye gaze measurements, and automatic facial expression analysis indicate that different visualization techniques produce significant differences in the level of cognitive and emotional arousal. A second experiment investigates whether visualizations that were demonstrated to promote higher and lower levels of arousal have differential effects on auditor judgments and audit quality. In addition, the second experiment investigates whether the reliability of data sources underlying visualizations affect auditors’ judgments. Results indicate that visualizations that increase arousal can enhance auditors’ ability to recognize disconfirming evidence and incorporate this evidence into their decisions.