19

WP/German group(Column 5). Several expressions included in this study have been examined repeatedly ın previous research involving U.S. subjects. The mean CPA responses to“probable” (71.37%) and“likely”(70.89) are similar to the responses to these terms in prior studies.! In addition, as appears to be the case in the current sindyı several studies have found these two terms to be synonyms. The mean probability associated with“remote”(16.38%) in the current study ıs higher than has been found in previous accounting studies. Reimers’(1992) had a mean of 9.4% for her auditor group and Amer, Hackenbrack: and Nelson(1994) had a mean of 12.33% for their in-context study.

[Insert Table 3 here]

The CPA responses also exhibit more symmetry with regard to mirror-image pairs than has been found in previous research reported in the psychology literature. The mean probabilities assıgned to“probable” and“not probable” sum to 104 percent, and“likely” and “unlikely” sum to 98 percent, as compared with sums of approximately 85 percent in other studies. The negative expressions in the pairs are assigned probabilities much closer to the 50 percent midpoint than has been found in previous studies.

As has been found in prior research, there is considerable between-subject variability in the CPA responses. Standard deviations range from 9.70(“reasonable assurance””) to 23.54(“no longer probable”). Standard deviations are much smaller for the positive expressions(those

with a mean probability> 50%)(average 13.79) than for the negative expressions(average

1 Reagan, Mosteller, and Youtz(1989) reported that, across seven prior studies, the range of mean probabilities assigned to “probable” was 70-77% and to“likely” was 67-75%.