Verbal deception from late childhood to middle adolescence and its relation to executive functioning skills.

Abstract

The present investigation examined 8- to 16-year-olds’ tendency to lie, the sophistication of their lies, and related cognitive factors. Participants were left alone and asked not to look at the answers to a test, but the majority peeked. The researcher then asked a series of questions to examine whether the participants would lie about their cheating and, if they did lie, evaluate the sophistication of their lies. Additionally, participants completed measures of working memory, inhibitory control, and planning skills. Results revealed that the sophistication of 8- to 16-year-olds’ lies, but not their decision to lie, was significantly related to executive functioning skills.

Liar, liar, working memory on fire: Investigating the role of working memory in childhood verbal deception

“…When Talwar and Lee looked at the children's responses in a temptation resistance paradigm task, they did not find any difference between the lie-tellers, confessors, and nonpeekers. In contrast, Evans and Lee (2011) found that older children (8-16 years) with higher working memory scores, measured with backward digit recall, were better at semantic leakage control, or covering their tracks. One possible reason for the difference in findings could be due to the nature of the working memory tasks.…”

“…First, older children peek less than younger children (Evans, et al, 2011;. Thus a study focussing on 6-and 7-year-olds would not find the same rates of peeking compared to studies focussing on children from 3 years (e.g., Evans et al, 2011;Polak & Harris, 1999;Talwar & Lee, 2008, with peeking scores ranging from 50%-95%). Second, British children may be less likely to peek than North American children.…”

“…Second, British children may be less likely to peek than North American children. For instance, while around 70% of North American 3-year-olds peek on a classic temptation (Evans, et al, 2011;Lewis, et al, 1989), only 50% of British 3-year-olds peek on a similar paradigm (Polak & Harris, 1999). Thus our sample being both older and British could explain the low peeking rates.…”

“…Other executive function skills, such as working memory, may also play a role in verbal deception (Evans & Lee, 2011). Working memory is the ability to process multiple pieces of information, continually update memory contents with incoming stimuli, and recall the appropriate information (Baddeley, 1996;Cowan, 2006;Engle, Tuholski, Laughlin, & Conway, 1999;Lustig, May, & Hasher, 2001;Miyake, Friedman, Rettinger, Shah, & Hegarty, 2001).…”

“…Age may also have played a role as Evans and Lee recruited an older sample than those who participated in Talwar and Lee's study. Research by Lewis and colleagues have found that there is a clear age advantage when it comes to verbal deception, possibly as a function of better language skills (Lewis et al, 1989; see also Evans & Lee, 2011).…”