What is Inhibition and Working Memory?
Inhibition is the capability to stop and or supress yourself from doing certain actions or saying certain things (Carlson, Moses & Breton, 2002). Think of it as the breaks on your car. In the case of inhibition, you are stopping yourself from going forward with an action or speaking instead of stopping the car from driving forward.
Working memory is the capability to hold different amounts of information on board in your memory at the same time (Baddeley, 1986). Picture a circus performer balancing many different objects all at the same time. Each one of these objects is a thought or memory. With working memory you are able to access all of these thoughts or memories (the objects being balanced) at the same time.
Inhibition is the capability to stop and or supress yourself from doing certain actions or saying certain things (Carlson, Moses & Breton, 2002). Think of it as the breaks on your car. In the case of inhibition, you are stopping yourself from going forward with an action or speaking instead of stopping the car from driving forward.
Working memory is the capability to hold different amounts of information on board in your memory at the same time (Baddeley, 1986). Picture a circus performer balancing many different objects all at the same time. Each one of these objects is a thought or memory. With working memory you are able to access all of these thoughts or memories (the objects being balanced) at the same time.
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Relation to Lying?
When you tell a lie, basically you must stop yourself from telling the truth. This could arguably be associated with the skill of inhibition because you are stopping yourself from telling the truth. When you tell a lie you must also keep the competing information on board in your mind at once, both the truthful events that occurred and the false events that you fabricated must be stored at the same time.This can arguably be associated with working memory because you must balance all of these different thoughts (the truthful event and the false event you are saying happened) at the same time in your mind. Research has been conducted looking into these cognitive skills and their associations with lie telling behaviour. An example of such a study was conducted by Talwar and Lee (2008). They found a relationship between a task that assessed the child's inhibition and their lie telling behaviour (Talwar & Lee, 2008). Talwar and Lee (2008) found that children's inhibition was related to them telling a lie. Another study found an association between the children's working memory and the sophistication of their lie telling (Evans & Lee, 2011). Sophistication of their lie telling means that the children were better able to keep their stories straight during the questioning and not give away details that would implicate them in their lie (in other words, they better maintained their lie).
When you tell a lie, basically you must stop yourself from telling the truth. This could arguably be associated with the skill of inhibition because you are stopping yourself from telling the truth. When you tell a lie you must also keep the competing information on board in your mind at once, both the truthful events that occurred and the false events that you fabricated must be stored at the same time.This can arguably be associated with working memory because you must balance all of these different thoughts (the truthful event and the false event you are saying happened) at the same time in your mind. Research has been conducted looking into these cognitive skills and their associations with lie telling behaviour. An example of such a study was conducted by Talwar and Lee (2008). They found a relationship between a task that assessed the child's inhibition and their lie telling behaviour (Talwar & Lee, 2008). Talwar and Lee (2008) found that children's inhibition was related to them telling a lie. Another study found an association between the children's working memory and the sophistication of their lie telling (Evans & Lee, 2011). Sophistication of their lie telling means that the children were better able to keep their stories straight during the questioning and not give away details that would implicate them in their lie (in other words, they better maintained their lie).
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Why Should We Care?
It is important to understand the cognitive skills that one must have in order to tell a lie and to maintain a lie. If we know that a child who has not developed a certain cognitive skill is more than likely not capable of telling a lie then this could help people decide if what the child is saying is truthful. This knowledge could have implications in the judicial system and other areas that are interested in children's lie telling.
It is important to understand the cognitive skills that one must have in order to tell a lie and to maintain a lie. If we know that a child who has not developed a certain cognitive skill is more than likely not capable of telling a lie then this could help people decide if what the child is saying is truthful. This knowledge could have implications in the judicial system and other areas that are interested in children's lie telling.
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References:
Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Working Memory, Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
Carlson, S. M., Moses, L. J. & Breton, C. (2002). How specific is the relation between executive functioning and
theory of mind? Contribution of inhibitory control and working memory. Infant and Child Development, 11, 73-92.
Evans, A. D. & Lee, K. (2011). Verbal deception from late childhood to middle adolescence and its elation to executive
functioning skills. Developmental Psychology, 47, 1108-1116.
Talwar, V. & Lee, K. (2008). Social and cognitive correlates of children's lying behaviour. Child Development, 79, 866-
881.
Photo retrieved from: www.123rf.com, on April 19th 2013.
Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Working Memory, Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
Carlson, S. M., Moses, L. J. & Breton, C. (2002). How specific is the relation between executive functioning and
theory of mind? Contribution of inhibitory control and working memory. Infant and Child Development, 11, 73-92.
Evans, A. D. & Lee, K. (2011). Verbal deception from late childhood to middle adolescence and its elation to executive
functioning skills. Developmental Psychology, 47, 1108-1116.
Talwar, V. & Lee, K. (2008). Social and cognitive correlates of children's lying behaviour. Child Development, 79, 866-
881.
Photo retrieved from: www.123rf.com, on April 19th 2013.