Expert System Use and the Development of Expertise in Auditing: A Preliminary Investigation.

Abstract Sixty-seven accounting students enrolled in a senior level accounting course participated in an experiment examining the effect of expert system use on the development of expertise among novices. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups (expert system with explanations, expert system without explanations, and nonautomated practice aid) where they completed a series of learning exercises with one of three decision aids. The development of two components of expertise were then measured. Expert system use adversely affected the performance of the subjects in the two expert system treatment groups on a posttest designed to measure the development of semantic memory. Nonexpert system users performed significantly better than the subjects who used the expert system with explanations on a decision case designed to measure the development of semantic and episodic memory. Significant differences in subject performance across treatment groups were not found in a task designed to measure analogical transfer.