Why Lie?
When thinking about reasons kids tell lies the first thing that comes to mind for some people is to deny something that they have done, such as steal a cookie from the cookie jar. In this case, the kid is telling a lie to cover up a wrongdoing that they personally have done. This type of lie telling behaviour has been studied in labs using what is called the temptation resistance paradigm (Talwar, Gordon & Lee, 2007). In a temptation resistance paradigm children are presented with a situation where they are tempted to do an action, such as peek at a toy (Talwar et al., 2007). The children are then asked to say whether or not they peeked at this toy (Talwar, et al. 2007). This situation allows for a child to lie about their behaviour and therefore, the researchers can then examine their lie telling behaviour.
Another reason a child may tell a lie is to cover for something that someone else has done. This type of lying behaviour has implications for the judicial system when children are asked to give eye witness testimony. Research has been conducted where a child is asked to tell a lie for another person. An example of such a study was done by Talwar, Lee, Bala and Lindsay (2004) where children were asked to tell a lie to cover for a parent's wrongdoing (breaking of a toy). In this situation, the researcher had asked the parent to pick up a toy and exclaim that they had broken it in front of their child while the researcher was out of the room. The parent was told to ask the child to lie for them when the researcher returned and asked who had broken the toy (Talwar et al, 2004).
Further, the types of lying described so far entail a child denying something having happened. Children may also lie in another way, they may falsely allege that something has taken place. This type of lie telling behaviour has not been as well researched to date. Before explaining how you could look into this type of lie telling behaviour you may be asking when would such a situation occur? A situation where such a lie may be told could be in a custody case. A child may be asked by one parent to falsely allege that the other parent had abused the child or done another type of wrongdoing. As you can tell, research into this type of lie telling behaviour is very important. Lyon, Malloy,Quas and Talwar (2008) studied just this type of lying behaviour. Lyon et al. (2008) had children interact with a research assistant and either play with a toy house or not play with the toy house. The children were asked by the research assistant in some cases to say that they did play with the toy house when they did not in fact play with it when a second research assistant questioned them about it (Lyon et al., 2008). This created a situation where the child was asked to falsely allege that something had taken place when in fact it had not.
As you can see there are many different reasons that a child may tell a lie. In addition to those mentioned here, children may also tell lies out of politeness purposes (no those jeans do not make you look fat). To learn more about different ways to study children's lie telling behaviour please refer to the "Of Interest" section of this website to find the names of leading researchers in the field who's research will provide you with more details.
References:
Lyon, T. D.; Malloy, L. C.; Quas, J. A. & Talwar, V. (2008). Coaching truth induction, and young maltreated children's
false allegations and false denials. Child Development, 79, 914-929.
Talwar, V.; Gordon, H. M. & Lee, K. (2007). Lying in elementary school years: Verbal deception and its relation to
second-order belief understanding, Developmental Psychology, 43, 804-810.
Talwar, V.; Lee, K.; Bala, N. & Lindsay, R. C. L. (2004). Children's lie-telling to conceal a parent's transgression: Legal
implications. Law and Human Behavior, 28, 411-453.
Photo retrieved at: new.discovery.com, on April 19th 2013.
When thinking about reasons kids tell lies the first thing that comes to mind for some people is to deny something that they have done, such as steal a cookie from the cookie jar. In this case, the kid is telling a lie to cover up a wrongdoing that they personally have done. This type of lie telling behaviour has been studied in labs using what is called the temptation resistance paradigm (Talwar, Gordon & Lee, 2007). In a temptation resistance paradigm children are presented with a situation where they are tempted to do an action, such as peek at a toy (Talwar et al., 2007). The children are then asked to say whether or not they peeked at this toy (Talwar, et al. 2007). This situation allows for a child to lie about their behaviour and therefore, the researchers can then examine their lie telling behaviour.
Another reason a child may tell a lie is to cover for something that someone else has done. This type of lying behaviour has implications for the judicial system when children are asked to give eye witness testimony. Research has been conducted where a child is asked to tell a lie for another person. An example of such a study was done by Talwar, Lee, Bala and Lindsay (2004) where children were asked to tell a lie to cover for a parent's wrongdoing (breaking of a toy). In this situation, the researcher had asked the parent to pick up a toy and exclaim that they had broken it in front of their child while the researcher was out of the room. The parent was told to ask the child to lie for them when the researcher returned and asked who had broken the toy (Talwar et al, 2004).
Further, the types of lying described so far entail a child denying something having happened. Children may also lie in another way, they may falsely allege that something has taken place. This type of lie telling behaviour has not been as well researched to date. Before explaining how you could look into this type of lie telling behaviour you may be asking when would such a situation occur? A situation where such a lie may be told could be in a custody case. A child may be asked by one parent to falsely allege that the other parent had abused the child or done another type of wrongdoing. As you can tell, research into this type of lie telling behaviour is very important. Lyon, Malloy,Quas and Talwar (2008) studied just this type of lying behaviour. Lyon et al. (2008) had children interact with a research assistant and either play with a toy house or not play with the toy house. The children were asked by the research assistant in some cases to say that they did play with the toy house when they did not in fact play with it when a second research assistant questioned them about it (Lyon et al., 2008). This created a situation where the child was asked to falsely allege that something had taken place when in fact it had not.
As you can see there are many different reasons that a child may tell a lie. In addition to those mentioned here, children may also tell lies out of politeness purposes (no those jeans do not make you look fat). To learn more about different ways to study children's lie telling behaviour please refer to the "Of Interest" section of this website to find the names of leading researchers in the field who's research will provide you with more details.
References:
Lyon, T. D.; Malloy, L. C.; Quas, J. A. & Talwar, V. (2008). Coaching truth induction, and young maltreated children's
false allegations and false denials. Child Development, 79, 914-929.
Talwar, V.; Gordon, H. M. & Lee, K. (2007). Lying in elementary school years: Verbal deception and its relation to
second-order belief understanding, Developmental Psychology, 43, 804-810.
Talwar, V.; Lee, K.; Bala, N. & Lindsay, R. C. L. (2004). Children's lie-telling to conceal a parent's transgression: Legal
implications. Law and Human Behavior, 28, 411-453.
Photo retrieved at: new.discovery.com, on April 19th 2013.