A Cognitive Theory of Corporate Disclosures

I analyze how disclosure policies and managerial cognitive abilities interact to influence stock prices, firm values, and the liquidity of financial markets. High cognitive ability assists in value-creation within private corporations, but also may enhance the success odds of strategies which mislead large numbers of financial market agents who have access to firms' disclosure statements. Thus, the equilibrium degree of misrepresentation in disclosures can increase with managerial cognitive capacity (or intellect). Equilibrium efforts at improving true expected values of firms are limited by expected gains from misrepresentation. I argue that agents may face very high costs of acquiring information in firms run by managers who are effective at misrepresenting their firms in disclosure statements. This indicates that contrary to extant theoretical literature, there may be a positive relation between liquidity and the degree of information asymmetry between management and outside investors.     

死刑观的认知基础

民众对待死刑的态度具有复杂性和可变性,他们的死刑观总体上都可以归于“死刑有威慑力”的功利理性和“死刑适用是否公平”的道义理性。功利理性的认知基础包括威胁感知、死刑威慑作用的估计、当前死刑数量的估计、死刑的经济成本等因素;道义理性的认知基础包括公正世界信念、归因方式、对死刑适用中不公平因素的估计等因素。公众对死刑的态度融合了功利与道义两方面考虑,不同情境下会进行相应的权衡取舍。传统文化中的集体主义和现代社会对社会秩序的强调也融贯在一起,影响着人们对死刑的态度。     

Cognitive style factors affecting database query performance

As end-user computing becomes more pervasive, an organization's success increasingly depends on the ability of end-users, usually in managerial positions, to extract appropriate data from both internal and external sources. Many of these data sources include or are derived from the organization's accounting information systems. Managerial end-users with different personal characteristics and approaches are likely to compose queries of differing levels of accuracy when searching the data contained within these accounting information systems.This research investigates how cognitive style elements of personality influence managerial end-user performance in database querying tasks. A laboratory experiment was conducted in which participants generated queries to retrieve information from an accounting information system to satisfy typical information requirements. The experiment investigated the influence of personality on the accuracy of queries of varying degrees of complexity. Relying on the Myers–Briggs personality instrument, results show that perceiving individuals (as opposed to judging individuals) who rely on intuition (as opposed to sensing) composed queries more accurately. As expected, query complexity and academic performance also explain the success of data extraction tasks.     

Cognitive representations of the future: Survey results

This paper reports the results of a web-based survey concerning how people think about the future. Five hundred and seventy-two people from 24 countries completed the survey. The results indicate that when the respondents hear the word ‘future’, they think about a point in time 15 years into the future, on average, with a median response of 10 years. Respondents think less about the future than the present. On the other hand, they tend to worry more about the future than the present. Respondents’ ability to imagine the future goes ‘dark’ around 15-20 years into the future. Most of the respondents are optimistic about the near term, but become more pessimistic about the longer term. Respondents believe that humankind is not acting very responsibly with respect to a whole host of environmental and social issues but is acting responsibly with respect to technology. Almost half of the respondents would not wish to have been born in the future. Most of the other respondents would have preferred to have been born 50-500 years into the future. Approximately 45% of the sample believes that humankind will become extinct. The data suggest that Christians are more optimistic and less worried about the future and do not believe that we will become extinct. Males worry less but also think more about the future. There is a strong correlation between thinking about the future, clearly imagining the future, and being optimistic about the future. It is concluded that individuals have diverse and rich conceptions about the future but that they think less about the future than futurists might hope. Individuals’ considerations of the future are highly influenced by their identities and worldviews. Future research should focus on better unraveling these relationships and on understanding their implications for futures-oriented policy making.     

Cognitive Styles Of Experienced Auditors In The Netherlands

Cognitive styles of decision makers have been studied by a number of researchers over a period of years. Previous research has investigated cognitive styles in relation to information systems design and decision-making variables generally. Studies of cognitive styles in relation to auditor specific decision-making variables have been less common.This paper investigates cognitive styles of practicing auditors in The Netherlands using two well-known psychometric instruments: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the MacDonald AT-20 Tolerance for Ambiguity instrument (AT-20). The AT-20 has been used previously to investigate auditor individual differences in cognitive styles in relation to audit decision-making tasks (Pincus 1990). The MBTI has not been previously used to investigate auditor cognitive styles. The study described in this paper involved subjects from three auditing firms in The Netherlands. Subjects were presented with an audit case and asked to come to a decision about materiality. Information in the form of financial statements and other financial information was presented to the subjects via a computer program. The subjects selected the information they wanted to view by choosing an item on a menu. The sequence in which they selected information and the amount of time expended in viewing each page of information were recorded by the computer program. After the subjects finished the case, they were asked to complete the two cognitive style instruments (i.e. MBTI and AT-20).Results indicate that there is a preference for Sensing among subjects as measured by the MBTI. This finding is consistent with previous research using the MBTI which indicates that accountants and auditors generally have a preference for the Sensing type of information acquisition. Some differences between auditing firms were observed in regard to cognitive styles and information search variables.     

Cognitive science and decision making research in accounting

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relevance of cognitive science to decision-making research in accounting. First, the context into which it interfaces the field of accounting is reviewed. Next, the cognitive science applications to accounting are presented and evaluated as they relate to four levels of investigation. The paper concludes with implications for future research as well as a discussion of methodological issues which must be addressed.     

Information Disclosure,Cognitive Biases,and Payday Borrowing

Can psychology‐guided information disclosure induce borrowers to lower their use of high‐cost debt? In a field experiment at payday stores, we find that information that makes people think less narrowly (over time) about finance costs results in less borrowing. In particular, reinforcing the adding‐up dollar fees incurred when rolling over loans reduces the take‐up of future payday loans by 11% in the subsequent 4 months. Although we remain agnostic as to the overall sufficiency of better disclosure policy to “remedy” payday borrowing, we cast the 11% reduction in borrowing in light of the relative low cost of this policy.     

程度副词的不对称性及其认知解释——以极、很、甚为例

"很"、"极"、"甚"三词在使用上存在着很大的不对称性,主要表现在如下几方面:对VP选择的不对称;充当程度补语的不对称性;有"不很/甚+形"、无"不极+形"、构成双音词的情况不对称等几个方面。"很"、"极"、"甚"三词作为程度副词呈现了明显的共性与个性。对不对称现象的研究,有助于语法差异的揭示和汉语类型学研究。     

程度副词的不对称性及其认知解释——以极、很、甚为例

"很"、"极"、"甚"三词在使用上存在着很大的不对称性,主要表现在如下几方面:对VP选择的不对称;充当程度补语的不对称性;有"不很/甚+形"、无"不极+形"、构成双音词的情况不对称等几个方面。"很"、"极"、"甚"三词作为程度副词呈现了明显的共性与个性。对不对称现象的研究,有助于语法差异的揭示和汉语类型学研究。     

The Effects of Information and Cognitive Processes on Decision Making

This article examines the efficacy of a two-stage cognitive model of decision making within the context of loan decisions. A covariance structural analysis of the cognitive processes that loan officers and MBA students used to reach loan decisions was examined through measures designed to test the proposed two-stage processing model. The results indicated that, during the first stage of cognitive processing, conceptually-driven and data-driven perceptual biases caused different assessments of loan information. The results also indicated that judgments made during the second phase of processing significantly affected decision choice. The well documented conservatism bias was also evident in the results. The result was that experienced loan officers did not out-perform novice students on most of the loan decisions. The relative usefulness of the two-stage model is discussed and general suggestions for future decision making research are offered.     

隐喻的认知功能与跨文化隐喻的相似性

隐喻不仅是语言内部的一种修辞手段,还是人类认知世界的一种思维方式.从认知心理学的角度分析隐喻的认知功能并比较英、汉两种文化背景下隐喻的相似性,有利于提高大学英语教学效果.     

英语口语教学的认知心理空间探析

大学英语教学改革对大学英语口语教学提出新的、更高的要求。目前大学英语教学理念中存在重输出、轻输入的误区。认知语言学认为,口语交际是一种认知体验活动,本文拟对认知心理空间在大学英语口语教学中作用之认知理据进行探讨。     

从认知心理学的角度提高大学外语听力教学

以信息论和认知心理学理论为依据，对外语听力理解的本质、过程、模式和影响因素进行研究，目的是弥补传统听力教学实践和理念的不足，从根本上完善英语课堂教学实践，促进学生自主听力实践，提高大学英语听力教学质量。     

认知能力、社会互动方式与家庭金融资产选择

本文运用CFPS2016数据,研究认知能力与社会互动方式对家庭资产选择的影响.研究发现,认知能力对家庭参与正规金融市场和持有风险资产占比有显著的正向作用,对家庭参与非正规金融市场有显著的抑制作用;线上社会互动对家庭参与正规金融市场和持有风险资产占比的促进作用要显著大于线下社会互动,并对线下社会互动有挤出效应;而线下社会...     

Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Impacts of High-Ability Peers in Early Years*

The sorting of students into ability groups is one of the most common, controversial and long-examined educational practices. Ability grouping also mechanically changes peer groups. We provide novel evidence on the cognitive and non-cognitive impacts in early years, of being exposed to higher-ability classroom peers through being assigned to the top within-class ability group. We exploit panel data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, which allows us to construct trajectories of the cognitive and non-cognitive development of children from birth to entry into primary school. The data also record school grouping policies and the specific within-class group assignment of each child, by subject. We combine these rich data with an instrumental variable design using child-level variation in group assignment due to month of birth, in order to measure the local average treatment effect (LATE) of being assigned to the highest-ability peer group. We find that if a marginal student is assigned higher-ability peers, this significantly reduces their cognitive achievement in mathematics, and has no impact on literacy. There are countervailing impacts on non-cognitive outcomes for the marginal student assigned higher-ability peers: although they are more motivated to study and parents respond with an improved home learning environment, these children have more study-related difficulties and their relations with their peers significantly worsen. These findings have important policy implications for the use and design of within-class ability grouping in early years.     

Cognitive skills objectives in intermediate accounting textbooks: Evidence from end-of-chapter material

This paper describes how Bloom’s taxonomy was used to analyze the end-of-chapter (EOC) material found in 41 intermediate financial accounting textbooks published between 1934 and 2004. The analysis was done to detect trends in the cognitive demands inherent in the EOC material and differences among authors, chapters, and type of material (questions, exercises, problems, and cases). We found that the different types of EOC material vary in the proportions of items at the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy and that the proportions of the EOC material in the two topics we considered (revenue recognition and accounting for investments) are not very different. We also found that the different author series have somewhat different proportions of materials at the six levels, but that very little EOC material is at the two highest levels of Bloom’s learning objectives. Contrary to what might have been expected from the observations noted in the Bedford Report and the Big 8 firms’ White Paper, we found that there has not been a significant change in EOC material at the highest levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.     

结构化理财产品的复杂度、投资者的认知偏差与购买意愿

近年来,随着金融监管的趋严,银行理财不得承诺保本,面对依旧高涨的投资需求,具有多样化收益的结构化理财产品异军突起,受到广大投资者的追捧。但是此类金融产品设计复杂,投资者极易产生认知偏差,做出非理性的决策。通过对个人理财投资者的问卷调查,定量测度了投资者对结构化产品的认知能力,并在此基础上研究了产品的复杂度对投资者认知偏差的影响,以及认知偏差与购买意愿之间的关系。实证发现结构化产品的复杂度越高,投资者对此类产品的认知偏差就越大,但是偏差可以受到其自身认知能力的反向矫正,即使在高复杂度的决策情境下,认知能力的矫正作用依然显著。研究进一步表明,投资者高估实际收益率的认知偏差正向促进其购买结构化产品,尽管风险厌恶对购买意愿具有反向影响,但是在认知偏差存在的情况下,这种反向作用会被削弱。研究为分析结构化产品投资者的决策行为提供了一个崭新的视角,同时为加强对金融机构的监管提供了实证基础。