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Gao Q, Chen P, Huang Q, Wang Z. Advanced theory of mind and children's prosocial lie-telling in middle childhood: A training study. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 246:106012. [PMID: 39033606 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2024] [Revised: 05/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
Children's advanced theory of mind (AToM) is concurrently associated with their prosocial lie-telling. However, the causal link between AToM and prosocial lie-telling has not yet been demonstrated. To address this gap, the current study adopted a training paradigm and investigated the role of AToM in children's prosocial lie-telling in middle childhood. A total of 66 9- and 10-year-old children who did not demonstrate any prosocial lie-telling in a disappointment gift paradigm at the baseline were recruited and randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 32) or an active control group (n = 34). The experimental group underwent a conversation-based training program of four sessions. The results showed significantly greater gains in AToM at the posttest for the experimental group children compared with the control group children, controlling for family socioeconomic status, children's literacy score, working memory, and inhibition. More important, the experimental group children were more likely to tell prosocial lies than the control group, even after controlling for the pretest AToM and other covariates. However, the training effects faded at the 6-month follow-up test after the training's completion. These findings provide the first evidence for the causal role of AToM in the development of prosocial lie-telling in middle childhood. The fade-out effect is discussed in the context of educational interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiyang Gao
- Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312010, China
| | - Peiyao Chen
- South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510631, China
| | - Qianyao Huang
- Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312010, China
| | - Zhenlin Wang
- Massey University, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
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2
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Tong D, Isik I, Talwar V. Relations among lie-telling self-efficacy, moral disengagement, and willingness to tell antisocial lies among children and adolescents. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 246:105999. [PMID: 38996741 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 07/14/2024]
Abstract
This study examined a proposed model of relations among lie-telling self-efficacy, moral disengagement, and willingness to tell antisocial lies among children and adolescents. Children and adolescents aged 6 to 15 years completed measures of lie-telling self-efficacy and moral disengagement. They also read vignettes about a character committing a transgression and telling a lie to conceal the transgression. For each vignette, children and adolescents made a hypothetical decision about telling the truth or a lie if they were in the character's position to assess their lie-telling propensity. Lie-telling self-efficacy was related to willingness to tell lies, and this relationship was mediated by moral disengagement. Children and adolescents with higher lie-telling self-efficacy had higher moral disengagement, and those who had higher moral disengagement were more willing to tell antisocial lies. Overall, results support Bandura's social cognitive theory as a framework for understanding the psychosocial mechanisms underlying attitudes toward lie-telling. Moreover, these findings suggest that interventions to address problematic lie-telling behavior should focus on children's and adolescents' use of moral disengagement mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donia Tong
- Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada.
| | - Ipek Isik
- Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada
| | - Victoria Talwar
- Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada
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3
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Schröer L, Talwar V, Luijk M, Kok R. Infant-parent attachment and lie-telling in young children: The Generation R Study. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 247:106044. [PMID: 39232283 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2024] [Revised: 07/17/2024] [Accepted: 07/22/2024] [Indexed: 09/06/2024]
Abstract
Insecure-attached adults are more likely to lie. However, it is unknown whether infant-parent attachment quality relates to lie-telling in early childhood. As in adults, lie-telling in early childhood might be related to attachment insecurity. However, a competing hypothesis might be plausible; lie-telling might be related to attachment security given that lie-telling in early childhood is considered an advancement in social-cognitive development. The current study is the first to investigate the link between insecure/secure and disorganized/non-disorganized attachment and lie-telling behavior in early childhood. Because lie-telling is studied in the context of cheating behavior, the association between cheating and attachment is additionally explored. A total of 560 Dutch children (287 girls) from a longitudinal cohort study (Generation R) were included in the analyses. Attachment quality with primary caregiver (secure/insecure and disorganized/non-disorganized attachment) was assessed at 14 months of age in the Strange Situation Procedure, and cheating and lie-telling were observed in games administered at 4 years of age. The results demonstrated no relationship of attachment (in)security and (dis)organization with cheating and lie-telling. Results are interpreted in light of evidence that lie-telling in early childhood is part of normative development. Limitations are discussed, including the time lag between assessments, the fact that lie-telling was measured toward a researcher instead of a caregiver, and the conceptualization of attachment in infancy versus adulthood. Attachment quality does not affect early normative lie-telling, but how and when it may affect later lying in children remains to be explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisanne Schröer
- Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Victoria Talwar
- Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec H3A 0G4, Canada
| | - Maartje Luijk
- Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Rianne Kok
- Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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4
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Dai M, Gao Y, Hu X, Fu G, Hu Z, Sai L. Preschoolers' deception related to prefrontal cortex activation: An fNIRS study. Neuroimage 2024; 298:120795. [PMID: 39153522 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2024] [Revised: 08/05/2024] [Accepted: 08/14/2024] [Indexed: 08/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Deception is an essential part of children's moral development. Previous developmental studies have shown that children start to deceive at the age of 3 years, and as age increased to 5 years, almost all children were able to deceive for their own benefit. Although behavioral studies have indicated that the emergence and development of deception are related to cognitive abilities, their neural correlates remain poorly understood. Therefore, the present study examined the neural correlates underlying deception in preschool-aged children (N = 89, 44 % boys, age 3.13 to 5.96 years, Han Chinese) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. A modified hide-and-seek paradigm was applied to elicit deceptive and truth-telling behaviors. The results showed that activation of bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was positively associated with the tendency to deceive an opponent in a competitive game in the 3-year-olds. In addition, 3-year-olds who showed a high tendency to deceive showed the same brain activation in the frontopolar area as 5-year-olds did when engaged in deception, whereas no such effect was found in 3-year-olds who never engaged in deception. These findings underscore the link between preschoolers' deception and prefrontal cortex function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng Dai
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science, Laboratory for Research in Early Development and Childcare, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Yu Gao
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science, Laboratory for Research in Early Development and Childcare, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xintai Hu
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science, Laboratory for Research in Early Development and Childcare, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Genyue Fu
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science, Laboratory for Research in Early Development and Childcare, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Zhishan Hu
- Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
| | - Liyang Sai
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science, Laboratory for Research in Early Development and Childcare, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
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5
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Sağel-Çetiner E, Yılmaz Irmak T, Açık Yavuz B. To tell the truth or not: What effortful control, false belief, and sympathy tell us about preschoolers' instrumental lies. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 240:105839. [PMID: 38184957 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 09/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
This study aimed to examine the predictors of instrumental lies in preschool children, specifically focusing on false belief, effortful control, and sympathy. Instrumental lies are intentional falsehoods used to achieve personal goals such as avoiding punishment and obtaining an undeserved reward. A total of 192 preschool children (age range = 32-73 month-olds), along with their mothers and fathers, participated in the study. The Temptation Resistance Paradigm, an experimental task, was employed to elicit instrumental lies from the children. The children also completed first-order false belief measures, and their parents filled out questionnaires assessing their children's effortful control and sympathy skills. Results revealed a positive association between children's effortful control and their decisions to tell instrumental lies. However, no significant relationship was found between false belief and instrumental lying. Age moderated the link between sympathy and the decision to tell instrumental lies, with sympathy being negatively associated with lie-telling behavior among older children but showing no effect among younger children. The study variables did not predict the maintenance of instrumental lies. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the role of effortful control and sympathy as underlying temperamental and emotional processes influencing children's decisions to engage in instrumental lie-telling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ece Sağel-Çetiner
- Department of Psychology, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, 09010 Efeler/Aydın, Turkey.
| | | | - Begüm Açık Yavuz
- Department of Psychology, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, 09010 Efeler/Aydın, Turkey
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Bagnall R, Russell A, Brosnan M, Maras K. Autistic adults' inclination to lie in everyday situations. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2024; 28:718-731. [PMID: 37572035 PMCID: PMC10913365 DOI: 10.1177/13623613231183911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/14/2023]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT Differences in social communication and understanding others' mental states may mean that autistic adults are less likely to deceive others than non-autistic individuals. We investigated whether autistic and non-autistic adults differ in their inclination to lie and which psychological factors are involved in the inclination to lie. We found that autistic and non-autistic groups reported a similar inclination to lie, and the extent to which participants viewed lying as acceptable helped to explain their inclination to deceive others. However, the other underlying psychological factors associated with deception inclination differed between autistic and non-autistic groups. Autistic adults' belief about their ability to lie and also how quickly they could lie helped to explain whether they were more or less inclined to lie. For non-autistic adults, their memory and ability to understand others' mental states helped to explain their lie inclination. We discuss these findings and recommend areas for future research.
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7
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Wang Z, Shao Y. Picture book reading improves children's learning understanding. BRITISH JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2024. [PMID: 38415288 DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
Mental state reasoning is an integral part of children's teaching and learning understanding. This study investigated whether a picture book reading approach focusing on mental state discourse and contrasting perspectives in a preschool classroom setting would improve children's teaching and learning understanding and school readiness. In total, 104 children from four classrooms aged between 46 and 64 months (53 girls, M = 54.03 months, SD = 3.68) participated in the study. Half of the classrooms were randomly assigned to an experimental group where teachers read picture books rich in mental state discourse and engaged in intensive discussions with children for eight weeks. Children's false belief understanding and teaching and learning understanding were measured before and after the eight-week period. The result revealed that picture book reading improved children's learning understanding with a medium effect size, controlling for demographic variables, children's verbal ability, inhibition, and initial false belief understanding. The experimental group children further demonstrated more advanced school readiness 18 months after the intervention ended in a follow-up study using a teacher questionnaire.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenlin Wang
- The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
| | - Yihan Shao
- Shanghai SIPO Polytechnic, Shanghai, China
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8
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Sotomayor-Enriquez K, Gweon H, Saxe R, Richardson H. Open dataset of theory of mind reasoning in early to middle childhood. Data Brief 2024; 52:109905. [PMID: 38146306 PMCID: PMC10749232 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2023.109905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2023] [Revised: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Theory of mind (ToM) reasoning refers to the process by which we reason about the mental states (beliefs, desires, emotions) of others. Here, we describe an open dataset of responses from children who completed a story booklet task for assessing ToM reasoning (n = 321 3-12-year-old children, including 64 (neurotypical) children assessed longitudinally and 68 autistic children). Children completed one of two versions of the story booklet task (Booklet 1 or 2). Both versions include two-alternative forced choice and free response questions that tap ToM concepts ranging in difficulty from reasoning about desires and beliefs to reasoning about moral blameworthiness and mistaken referents. Booklet 2 additionally includes items that assess understanding of sarcasm, lies, and second-order belief-desire reasoning. Compared to other ToM tasks, the booklet task provides relatively dense sampling of ToM reasoning within each child (Booklet 1: 41 items; Booklet 2: 65 items). Experimental sessions were video recorded and data were coded offline; the open dataset consists of children's accuracy (binary) on each item and, for many children (n = 171), transcriptions of free responses. The dataset also includes children's scores on standardized tests of receptive language and non-verbal IQ, as well as other demographic information. As such, this dataset is a valuable resource for investigating the development of ToM reasoning in early and middle childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koraima Sotomayor-Enriquez
- School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, United Kingdom
| | - Hyowon Gweon
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Bldg. 420-280, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Rebecca Saxe
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Hilary Richardson
- School of Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, United Kingdom
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9
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Prodan N, Ding XP, Visu-Petra L. Truthful yet misleading: Elementary second-order deception in school-age children and its sociocognitive correlates. J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 237:105759. [PMID: 37597452 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/21/2023]
Abstract
In highly competitive contexts, deceptive intentions might be transparent, so conveying only false information to the opponent can become a predictable strategy. In such situations, alternating between truths and lies (second-order lying behavior) represents a less foreseeable option. The current study investigated the development of 8- to 10-year-old children's elementary second-order deception in relation to their attribution of ignorance (first- and second-order ignorance) and executive functions (inhibitory control, shifting ability, and verbal working memory). An adapted version of the hide-and-seek paradigm was used to assess children's second-order lie-telling, in which children were asked to hide a coin in either of their hands. Unlike the standard paradigm, the opponent did not consistently look for the coin in the location indicated by the children, so children needed to switch between telling simple lies and truths (elementary second-order lies about the coin location) to successfully deceive the recipient. The results showed that older children were less likely to tell elementary second-order lies. However, across the sample, when children decided to lie, this ability was positively related to their second-order ignorance attribution and their verbal working memory. Moreover, we obtained preliminary evidence for the presence of a habituation effect in second-order lying, with children being more accurate and having less variability in their truthful-to-deceive responses (this being the more frequently elicited response) than when telling lies to deceive. Our findings could have implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying children's ability to alternate between truths and lies to deceive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narcisa Prodan
- Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania
| | - Xiao Pan Ding
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, 117570 Singapore, Singapore
| | - Laura Visu-Petra
- Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania; Department of Social and Human Research, Romanian Academy, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
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Prodan N, Ding XP, Szekely-Copîndean RD, Tănăsescu A, Visu-Petra L. Socio-cognitive correlates of primary school children's deceptive behavior toward peers in competitive settings. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2023; 240:104019. [PMID: 37734243 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.104019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2023] [Revised: 08/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Competing for limited resources with peers is common among children from an early age, illustrating their propensity to use deceptive strategies to win. We focused on how primary school-age (6-8 years old) children's strategic deception toward peers is associated with their socio-cognitive development (theory of mind and executive functions). In a novel computerized competitive hide-and-seek game, we manipulated the peer opponents' familiarity (familiar vs. unfamiliar) and actions (following vs. not following children's indications), as well as the stimuli likability (liked vs. disliked cards). Our findings demonstrated that children deceived the familiar opponent less than the unfamiliar one, indicating their determination to preserve positive peer interactions. We showed that theory of mind and executive functions significantly predicted children's willingness to deceive. Notably, second-order false belief understanding and visuospatial working memory positively predicted children's use of truths to deceive, whereas inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility efficacy scores were negatively related to their deceptive performance when using the same strategy. Implications for children's competitive behavior toward peers involving lie-telling are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narcisa Prodan
- Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
| | - Xiao Pan Ding
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, 117570 Singapore, Singapore.
| | - Raluca Diana Szekely-Copîndean
- Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania; Department of Social and Human Research, Romanian Academy, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
| | | | - Laura Visu-Petra
- Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania; Department of Social and Human Research, Romanian Academy, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Cluj, Romania.
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Alon N, Schulz L, Rosenschein JS, Dayan P. A (Dis-)information Theory of Revealed and Unrevealed Preferences: Emerging Deception and Skepticism via Theory of Mind. Open Mind (Camb) 2023; 7:608-624. [PMID: 37840764 PMCID: PMC10575559 DOI: 10.1162/opmi_a_00097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
In complex situations involving communication, agents might attempt to mask their intentions, exploiting Shannon's theory of information as a theory of misinformation. Here, we introduce and analyze a simple multiagent reinforcement learning task where a buyer sends signals to a seller via its actions, and in which both agents are endowed with a recursive theory of mind. We show that this theory of mind, coupled with pure reward-maximization, gives rise to agents that selectively distort messages and become skeptical towards one another. Using information theory to analyze these interactions, we show how savvy buyers reduce mutual information between their preferences and actions, and how suspicious sellers learn to reinterpret or discard buyers' signals in a strategic manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nitay Alon
- Department of Computer Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
- Department of Computational Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Lion Schulz
- Department of Computational Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany
| | | | - Peter Dayan
- Department of Computer Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
- Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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12
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Kabha L, Berger A. When kindergarteners are tempted to deceive: A study of factors predicting lie-telling for personal gain. J Exp Child Psychol 2023; 233:105697. [PMID: 37224705 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Revised: 04/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
The current study examined the relations between children's cognitive and emotion abilities with their likelihood to tell a lie for personal gain in a tempting situation. These relations were examined using behavioral tasks and questionnaires. A total of 202 Israel Arab Muslim kindergarten children participated in this study. Our results showed that behavioral self-regulation was positively associated with children's likelihood to tell a lie for personal gain. Children with higher behavioral self-regulation actually tended to lie more for their own gain, suggesting that the likelihood to tell a lie might be related to children's ability to mobilize and integrate their cognitive abilities to self-regulate their behavior. In addition, through exploratory analysis, we found a positive relation between theory of mind and children's likelihood to tell a lie, which was moderated by inhibition. Specifically, only among children with low inhibition was there a positive correlation between their theory of mind and the likelihood to lie. Moreover, age and gender were related to children's lie-telling; older children tended more to lie for their own gain, and this likelihood was higher for boys than for girls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Kabha
- Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel; Department of Education, Al-Qasemi Academic College, Baqa-El-Gharbia, Israel.
| | - Andrea Berger
- Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel; School of Brain Sciences and Cognition, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
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13
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Tong D, Isik I, Talwar V. A cross-cultural comparison of the relation between children's moral standards of honesty and their lie-telling behavior. J Exp Child Psychol 2023; 231:105665. [PMID: 36921378 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Revised: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023]
Abstract
This study examined the relation between children's moral standards of honesty and their lie-telling behavior and the role that culture plays in this relation. In the study, 6- to 12-year-old Chinese and Northern American (Canadian and American) children underwent a behavioral paradigm where they had the opportunity to tell a lie about their performance to gain a benefit. The children then read vignettes where a character told lies to conceal a transgression committed to satisfy either a need or a desire and evaluated those lies. Northern American children were less likely to lie with age, but Chinese children did not demonstrate this trend. Lie-telling rates were higher for Chinese children than for Northern American children, but children were overall unlikely to tell a lie about their performance. Chinese children evaluated the lies in the vignettes more negatively than Northern American children. Children's moral standards of honesty were related to their lie-telling behavior, and the relation between children's moral standards and behavior did not differ by age in either culture. Overall, results suggest that culture influences how children make moral evaluations and decisions related to lie-telling and support the notion that children's moral standards and behavior are related. These findings suggest that socialization plays a central role in children's moral decision making related to honesty through helping children to develop moral standards related to honesty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donia Tong
- Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada.
| | - Ipek Isik
- Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada
| | - Victoria Talwar
- Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada
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14
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Wang Y, Shang S, Xie W, Hong S, Liu Z, Su Y. The relation between aggression and theory of mind in children: A meta-analysis. Dev Sci 2023; 26:e13310. [PMID: 36039023 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Previous findings on the association between theory of mind (ToM) and aggression in children are mixed. The social skills deficit view regarded ToM as a single-edged sword and proposed that a lack of ToM can lead to aggression, while the double-edged sword view proposed that children with advanced ToM can still show much aggression because children can also leverage ToM to harm others. To resolve the dispute between the two views, we conducted a meta-analysis combining cross-sectional and longitudinal findings from 53 studies including a total of 11,579 children aged between 2 and 15 years. The overall negative correlation between ToM and aggression was small but significant (r = -0.08). The negative correlation was robust, with the magnitude of the correlation being similar across physical versus relational aggression, proactive versus reactive aggression, cognitive versus affective ToM, preschoolers versus school-aged children, different aggression measurements, and different levels of societal individualism. Moreover, the negative correlation was found regardless of whether ToM and aggression were measured concurrently or at different time points, but the correlation was the largest when ToM was measured before aggression. Whether the aggression was bullying or not also moderated the association, with ToM only being negatively related to non-bullying aggression but not bullying. Together, these findings suggest that ToM is a single-edged sword to decrease general aggression and that aggression might also give rise to lower ToM capacity during development. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: This study systemically reviewed the existing mixed findings on the association between aggression and ToM during childhood using a meta-analysis. There was a negative correlation between ToM and aggression in children aged between 2 and 15 years. The negative correlation between aggression and ToM was stronger when ToM was measured first, followed by aggression, than vice versa. There was a negative correlation between non-bullying aggression and ToM, whereas there was no correlation between bullying and ToM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiyi Wang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Siyuan Shang
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Wanze Xie
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.,PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Skylar Hong
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Zexi Liu
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yanjie Su
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
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15
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Aguert M. How children tell a (prosocial) lie from an (ironic) joke: The role of shared knowledge. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marc Aguert
- Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, Laboratoire de Psychologie de Caen Normandie Caen France
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16
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Prodan N, Moldovan M, Cacuci SA, Visu-Petra L. Interpretive Diversity Understanding, Parental Practices, and Contextual Factors Involved in Primary School-age Children's Cheating and Lying Behavior. Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ 2022; 12:1621-1643. [PMID: 36421320 PMCID: PMC9689038 DOI: 10.3390/ejihpe12110114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 08/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Dishonesty is an interpersonal process that relies on sophisticated socio-cognitive mechanisms embedded in a complex network of individual and contextual factors. The present study examined parental rearing practices, bilingualism, socioeconomic status, and children's interpretive diversity understanding (i.e., the ability to understand the constructive nature of the human mind) in relation to their cheating and lie-telling behavior. 196 school-age children (9-11 years old) participated in a novel trivia game-like temptation resistance paradigm to elicit dishonesty and to verify their interpretive diversity understanding. Results revealed that children's decision to cheat and lie was positively associated with their understanding of the constructive nature of the human mind and with parental rejection. Children with rejective parents were more likely to lie compared to their counterparts. This may suggest that understanding social interactions and the relationship with caregivers can impact children's cheating behavior and the extent to which they are willing to deceive about it. Understanding the constructive nature of the mind was also a positive predictor of children's ability to maintain their lies. Finally, being bilingual and having a higher socioeconomic status positively predicted children's deception, these intriguing results warranting further research into the complex network of deception influences.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Laura Visu-Petra
- Research in Individual Differences and Legal Psychology (RIDDLE) Lab, Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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17
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Seucan DT, Szekely-Copîndean RD, Ding XP, Visu-Petra L. Give and take: A microgenetic study of preschoolers' deceptive and prosocial behavior in relation to their socio-cognitive development. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2022; 230:103714. [PMID: 36027708 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Early on, young children begin to learn the social skills which will help them navigate through an increasingly complex social world. We explored how deceiving for personal gain potentially interacts with sharing the resulting resources and how they both relate to theory of mind (ToM) and inhibitory control in 3- to 5-year-old children (N = 92, 43 girls). Children played a hide-and-seek zero-sum game in which they could win stickers if they discovered how to deceive the experimenter. Then they were prompted to share their stickers in a dictator game paradigm. Using a microgenetic design, we tracked deceptive behavior across ten sessions and sharing behavior across five of these sessions, plus a follow-up session 15 months later. Children polarized into a group who never deceived across all sessions, and a group who constantly deceived above chance levels (around 85 % of the time). Sharing behavior was extremely low (under 6 % of stickers) across the sessions. At follow-up, deceptive behavior was above 80 %, while sharing remained at a low level (under 5 %). The novelty of our findings was that children who initially discovered how to deceive shared less than the children who didn't use this deceptive strategy. Nonetheless, this pattern was reversed at follow-up. Furthermore, ToM positively predicted deceptive behavior across all sessions and improved after the microgenetic sessions but wasn't related with deception at follow-up. Implications for enabling children to deploy the growing understanding of their worlds in a more prosocial way are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Raluca Diana Szekely-Copîndean
- Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Department of Social and Human Research, Romanian Academy, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
| | - Xiao Pan Ding
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, 117570 Singapore, Singapore.
| | - Laura Visu-Petra
- Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
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18
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Liar, liar … sometimes: Understanding social-environmental influences on the development of lying. Curr Opin Psychol 2022; 47:101374. [PMID: 35751977 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Lying is a behavior that, in theory, is discouraged and punished, except when it isn't. Perhaps as a result, many individuals lie at low levels somewhat regularly. While research has well documented the cognitive skills that support children's early lying, it does not explain how children learn when to lie versus tell a truth. The current article reviews the impact of social-environmental influences on the development of children's lie-telling knowledge, understanding and behavior, including the roles of parents, siblings, teachers and others. It is argued that holistic examinations of cognitive, social, environmental, cultural and child factors, interacting over time, is required to understand divergent trajectories of lying and truth-telling across development, particularly at the extremes.
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19
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Lavoie J, Talwar V. Theory of Mind and Concealing vs. Forthcoming Communication in Adolescence. Front Psychol 2022; 13:866964. [PMID: 35496205 PMCID: PMC9046603 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.866964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Concealing information requires that adolescents manage the information that they share, which requires cognitive skills, for example, theory of mind (ToM). This study explored motivations for concealment that early adolescents (N = 90, M = 12.81 years, SD = 5.10 months, range 12–14 years, and 58% female) endorsed concealing or disclosing to friends and parents, in relation to their theory of mind. We found that adolescents broadly endorsed disclosure to both parents and friends, even when it might mean they would face consequences, be impolite (by not protecting another’s feelings), or face negative identity-related emotions. We found that ToM ability was associated with a tendency to endorse being forthcoming and sharing information with both friends and parents. These findings provide new insight into how the relation between ToM and concealment may change with age, specifically how in early adolescence it may foster open communication rather than concealment as is the case in early and middle childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Lavoie
- Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Victoria Talwar
- Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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20
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Talwar V, Lavoie J. Lie-telling for personal gain in children with and without externalizing behavior problems. J Exp Child Psychol 2022; 219:105385. [PMID: 35217368 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Revised: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Few studies have examined the lie-telling behavior of children who have externalizing problems using experimental procedures. In the current study, children's lie-telling for personal gain (N = 110 boys aged 6-11 years) was examined using an experimental paradigm in relation to their theory-of-mind abilities and inhibitory control as well as their moral evaluations of truths and lies. Children with externalizing behavior problems (n = 53) were significantly more likely to lie and to be less skilled at lying than a typical comparison group (n = 57). Children who had lower theory-of-mind scores were significantly less likely to tell a lie for personal gain compared with those who had higher theory-of-mind scores. Children with externalizing problems who told personal gain lies were also more likely to rate tattle truths more positively than other children. For a subsample of children (n = 55), parent-reported diaries of the frequency of children's lies over 2 weeks revealed a higher frequency of lies by children with externalizing problems compared with the typical comparison group. Children whose parents reported a high frequency of lies for their children were also more likely to lie in the experimental personal gain lie paradigm. Results suggest that children with externalizing behavior may have a different pattern of lie-telling than has been previously reported for normative lie development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Talwar
- Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada.
| | - Jennifer Lavoie
- Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ, UK
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21
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Zhao C, Shang S, Compton AM, Fu G, Sai L. A Longitudinal Study of the Relations Between Theory of Mind, Executive Function, and Lying in Children. Front Psychol 2021; 12:766891. [PMID: 34955986 PMCID: PMC8703068 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.766891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This study used longitudinal cross-lagged modeling to examine the contribution of theory of mind (ToM), executive function (EF) to children’s lying development and of children’s lying to ToM and EF development. Ninety-seven Chinese children (initial Mage = 46 months, 47 boys) were tested three times approximately 4 months apart. Results showed that the diverse desire understanding and knowledge access understanding components of ToM, as well as the inhibitory control component of EF predicted the development of children’s lying, while the diverse belief understanding and false belief understanding components of ToM, and the working memory component of EF did not predict development of children’s lying. Meanwhile, children’s lying predicted development of children’s belief-emotion understanding components of ToM, but not any other ToM components, or EF components. These findings provide longitudinal evidence for the relation between ToM, EF, and children’s lying during the preschool years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Changzhi Zhao
- Department of Psychology, College of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.,Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, The Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Siyuan Shang
- Department of Psychology, College of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Alison M Compton
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Genyue Fu
- Department of Psychology, College of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Liyang Sai
- Department of Psychology, College of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
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22
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Bagnall R, Russell A, Brosnan M, Maras K. Deceptive behaviour in autism: A scoping review. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2021; 26:293-307. [PMID: 34825581 PMCID: PMC8814957 DOI: 10.1177/13623613211057974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT The ability to deceive others is an important skill that usually develops in early childhood. In this review, we give an overview of studies that have examined deceptive behaviour in autistic children, adolescents and adults. We separated the study findings into three main categories and seven sub-categories: (1) Deception ability and prevalence (1a) gameplay deception; (1b) naturalistic deception; (2) Psychological processes in deception (2a) verbal, intellectual and social ability; (2b) ability to understand others' thoughts and beliefs; (2c) cognitive ability; and (3) Social learning (3a) training; (3b) social contexts. Contrary to some stereotypes, we found that autistic people can and do deceive but often find this more difficult than non-autistic people. We also found that autistic people may use different psychological processes than non-autistic people when deceiving and may get better at deception in adulthood.
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23
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Wang Y, Hong S, Pei M, Wang X, Su Y. Emotion matters in early polite lies: Preschoolers’ polite lie‐telling in relation to cognitive and emotion‐related abilities. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yiyi Wang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences Peking University Beijing China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health Peking University Beijing China
| | - Skylar Hong
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences Peking University Beijing China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health Peking University Beijing China
| | - Meng Pei
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences Peking University Beijing China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health Peking University Beijing China
| | - Xiaonan Wang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences Peking University Beijing China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health Peking University Beijing China
| | - Yanjie Su
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences Peking University Beijing China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health Peking University Beijing China
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