As mentioned previously, prior auditing studies (e.g., Libby and Luft 1993; Libby and Tan
1994) have developed a model to describe auditors’ task performance. This model posits that task
performance is a function of ability, knowledge, environment, and motivation. In the current study,
we attempt to isolate explanations of differences in task performance arising from differences in
environments in which the participating auditors developed their experience and expertise. We
manipulate the environment in which participants’ experience was obtained while holding tasks
constant across participants and controlling for the effects of ability and motivation. For the
relatively complex tasks, we expect auditors whose experience is limited to an environment of low
formalization to outperform auditors whose experience is limited to a formalized environment. This
is consistent with the argument that less formalization enhances opportunities for exercising
judgment and acquiring, integrating, and applying knowledge relevant to the effective performance
of relatively complex tasks