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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] [MESH Headings] [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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Kanngiesser P, Sunderarajan J, Woike JK. Cheating and the effect of promises in Indian and German children. Child Dev 2024; 95:16-23. [PMID: 37307385 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Cheating is harmful to others and society at large. Promises have been shown to increase honesty in children, but their effectiveness has not been compared between different cultural contexts. In a study (2019) with 7- to 12-year-olds (N = 406, 48% female, middle-class), voluntary promises reduced cheating in Indian, but not in German children. Children in both contexts cheated, but cheating rates were lower in Germany than in India. In both contexts, cheating decreased with age in the (no-promise) control condition and was unaffected by age in the promise condition. These findings suggest that there may exist a threshold beyond which cheating cannot be further reduced by promises. This opens new research avenues on how children navigate honesty and promise norms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia Kanngiesser
- School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
- Faculty of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jahnavi Sunderarajan
- Faculty of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Social Sciences, Flame University, Pune, India
| | - Jan K Woike
- School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
- Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
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Liu X, Shang S, Zanette S, Zhang Y, Sun Q, Sai L. An experimental investigation of association between children’s lying and behavior problems. Front Psychol 2022; 13:982012. [PMID: 36072035 PMCID: PMC9443930 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.982012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Children’s lying is a major concern for parents and teachers alike, not only because lying is an antisocial behavior but also because children’s lying correlates with other behavior problems, such as aggression and delinquency. Despite considerable correlational evidence demonstrating the relation between children’s lying and behavior problems, experimental evidence is scarce. This study uses a novel task to experimentally examine the relation between lying for personal reward and behavior problem symptoms among 9- to 11-year-old typically developed children (N = 275, 139 boys). Results revealed a positive correlation between children’s lying for personal reward and their behavior problem symptoms, and this correlation increases with age. Overall, this study provides experimental evidence suggesting children’s lying for personal reward is associated with behavior problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue Liu
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
- Mental Health Counseling Center, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou, China
| | - Siyuan Shang
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Sarah Zanette
- Luther College, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada
| | - Yongkang Zhang
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Qingzhou Sun
- School of Management, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Qingzhou Sun,
| | - Liyang Sai
- Department of Psychology, School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
- Liyang Sai,
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