Children 8 and 10 years of age listened to essays that contained either false statements or inconsistencies. They were asked to indicate which essays had problems with them. One group of children was simply informed that some of the essays contained problems. A second group of children was additionally told that some of the statements would be false and was given examples of falsehoods. A third group was told instead that some of the essays would be inconsistent and was given examples of inconsistencies. Under neutral instructions, the rate of problem detection was quite low for both age groups. Specific instructions helped children find problems. Moreover, the relative order of difficulty in finding falsehoods and inconsistencies shifted depending on the instructional set, suggesting that the instructions enabled children to adjust their standard of evaluation.

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