At what age do children begin to tell lies?

© 2022 GWEN DEWAR, PH.D., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Piffling kids sometimes say goofy things. They sometimes say things that aren't truthful. Just existence goofy or mistaken isn't the same thing equally telling a prevarication.

Equally commonly understood, the act of lying requires both insincerity and the intention to deceive. In other words, you have to brand a statement that you don't believe yourself, and you lot must intend to make someone else take that statement equally truthful (Primoratz 1984).

When practice children start meeting these criteria?

Studies reveal that some toddlers begin lying before they are ii and a one-half years sometime. And by the age of four, more than 70% of children prevarication — at least sometimes.

But the timing varies from one individual to the side by side, and no, information technology isn't a reflection of a child's moral grapheme. In fact, information technology may take children many years to achieve a nuanced, adult-like understanding of the morality of telling lies.

Instead, the bear witness strongly suggests that kids brainstorm experimenting with lying as a natural consequence of cerebral development.

In particular, lying is continued with a child's "mind-reading" skills: The earlier that children develop avant-garde insights into how other people retrieve, the sooner they begin testing their abilities to deceive.

Research also suggests that lying is related to the development of "inhibitory control," an executive function that helps us resist our impulses. Young children with higher levels of inhibitory control are more likely to lie.

Here are the details.

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Lying is developmentally normal, and here's how nosotros know

Decades ago, researchers devised a clever method for studying lying in children. Information technology's called the "temptation resistance prototype," simply you might too call it the "don't peek" scenario because information technology'southward designed to tempt kids to sneak a await at a hidden object.

Many experiments in lying take relied on this scenario, so permit'due south have a look at how it unfolds.

Information technology begins with a child being invited to play a guessing game. The steps are these:

1. The kid sits in a chair with his or her back to an adult. The adult advises the child to keep staring straight ahead. Don't turn around!

ii. Then adult explains that she is going to hold upward a toy — where the child can't see it — and play a sound clue. "The audio inkling will aid you lot guess what I have."

3. The child listens to the sound — which is indeed helpful. For instance, if the toy is a rubber duck, the child hears a quacking sound.

four. After beingness reminded again not to peek, the child makes his or her guess. If the guess is incorrect, the adult provides more clues until the child is successful.

Researchers have the child play a few rounds of the game, so they can be sure the child understands the routine. And then they innovate an break: The adult explains that she must leave the child alone for a minute.

The adult tells the child that they will resume playing the game when she returns. Meanwhile, she'll identify the next toy on a table behind the kid. She'll also play the accompanying sound clue.

"Don't peek while I'm gone," she reminds the child. "When I come dorsum yous can estimate what the toy is."

With that, the adult exits, leaving the child lonely in a room with a hidden photographic camera.

The sound clue begins to play, but this time it provides irrelevant information – music that is unrelated to the identity of the toy. What does the kid do adjacent?

In experiment after experiment, it turns out the same way. Irrespective of age, most children succumb to temptation and sneak a peek. But what'southward especially interesting is what happens afterwards, when the adult returns.

The adult questions the child. "Did yous turn around? Did you peek to see what it was?"

And at present we encounter an historic period difference. Among the youngest children tested — toddlers under the historic period of thirty months — most confess later on peeking. Just about 1 third of them tell a lie (Evans and Lee 2013).

Only equally children approach their fourth birthdays, the statistic flips. Beyond multiple studies, more than than 70% of these kids lie (Evans and Lee 2013; Lee 2013). In other words, lying isn't but developmentally normal for a iv-yr-one-time to lie. In certain situations, it'south actually the near common response!

So the rate of lying skyrockets between the ages of 2 and 4. Why?

It'southward probably because children are developing important cognitive skills.

Equally nosotros've seen, telling a lie isn't the same thing as uttering a falsehood. The would-be liar needs to take the goal of deceiving some other person, and exist capable of following through. The liar needs to keep rail of several different representations of reality at once.

• the true state of affairs, as the liar believes it to exist
• the false reality that the liar wishes to portray, and
• the beliefs of the person the liar wishes to fool.

That'southward pretty complicated stuff, specially the final detail. What'due south going on in the mind of the other person?

At accented minimum, a kid needs to gauge whether or not the other person is already knowledgeable, and therefore an unpromising target of deception.

In the "don't peek" experiments, the children who lied must have managed this much. They announced to take reasoned that they could get away with lying because the adult wasn't in the room to witness their peeking.

And so they showed at least a little aptitude for "mind-reading," or what psychologists phone call "theory of mind." They judged that the adult was ignorant nigh the truth. Merely there is a lot more to understand about another person's mind. For instance, how do other people come to hold simulated beliefs?

That sounds like a crucial matter to understand if y'all are going to deceive someone, and, as it turns out, information technology's an aspect of theory of mind that most young children seem to struggle with.

We know this based on experiments that nowadays kids with the so-called "fake conventionalities job," a job that asks children to follow the actions of a fictional character.

In the story, the character places a favored object in storage (e.m., a black box), and and so leaves the scene. A second grapheme arrives, removes the object, and then squirrels it away in a hiding place (e.yard., a white box).

The children are then asked to brand a prediction:When the first character returns, where will she look for her object?

Adults and older kids take no trouble answering this question. Clearly, the starting time graphic symbol will non know that her object has been subconscious. She volition await for it in the place where she last left it.

But the youngest children usually report otherwise. They say that the graphic symbol will expect in the new hiding identify. Information technology'southward as if they are confused about the divergence between their own, right knowledge, and the faulty conventionalities of the character.

Why practice young children become mixed up virtually this? Equally I opens in a new windowexplain elsewhere, that's not entirely clear. Mayhap they only aren't paying enough attention.

But regardless, the experiments report an interesting developmental shift: Whereas relatively few 3-twelvemonth-olds laissez passer the false belief job, near four-year-olds pass with flying colors.

This led researchers to a hypothesis nearly lying in children: Maybe the blueprint of lying in the "don't peek" experiments reflects a developmental shift in children'southward grasp of false beliefs. The rate of lying skyrockets around the age of four — at the same time that most kids brainstorm to laissez passer the imitation conventionalities task.

If the hypothesis is correct, then we'd look an individual'south performance in the "don't peek" experiment to correlate with his or her theory of mind skills. That's precisely what researchers take found (e.g., Talwar and Lee 2008; Leduc et al 2017).

In that location is too evidence that kids are quicker to acquire deceptive tactics if they already possess a good understanding of false beliefs.

In one study, researchers took a group of young children who hadn't nonetheless shown prove of lying. And then they provided these kids with opportunities to play a competitive game that required deceptive tactics.

With exercise, the preschoolers spontaneously learned to deceive — simply the children who learned the fastest were those who had shown a prior understanding of false behavior (Ding et al 2018).

Simply perhaps the most compelling show comes from a teaching intervention: What happens if nosotros take young children who haven't yet discovered lying, and bus them in the agreement of mental states and false beliefs?

That's what Xiao Pan Ding and her colleagues wanted to know. And then they conducted an experiment.

The researchers began by recruiting a grouping of kids who had failed to lie in preliminary tests — 42 children in full, who ranged in age from 34 to 40 months (Ding et al 2015).

So the researchers randomly assigned each child to receive i of ii types of training:

• One-half the kids were assigned to 6 sessions of instruction in theory of mind
• The remaining half were assigned to half dozen sessions of instruction in concepts unrelated to theory of mind (like Piaget's conservation of number).

The theory of mind grooming was specifically designed to get children thinking about the ways that people can be mistaken or deceived.

For example, in 1 training chore, children were shown a pencil box, and asked to guess what was within. Pencils? No. When children opened the box to bank check, they discovered there were no pencils. Then they were asked to make a prediction. If y'all showed this box, unopened, to someone else, what would he or she think was inside it?

At first, kids tended to predict that other people would (somehow) know the right answer.

But with discussion and practice, the children began to grasp the nature of false beliefs in others, and, unlike kids in the control grouping, they ended their 6 sessions of training by passing the simulated conventionalities task.

The children trained in theory of mind besides differed in another, crucial way: During a post-training test of deception, they were far more likely to lie.

Moreover, the consequence was lasting. When the children were tested again, 36 days later, they were nonetheless more likely to engage in strategic lying than were the kids in the control group (Ding et al 2015).

Then there is good reason to think that advanced theory of heed skills facilitate a child's ability to lie. Understanding false behavior might assistance kids recognize the opportunity to lie. It might assist them effigy out how to prevarication effectively (Talwar and Lee 2008).

And theory of listen skills aren't the only factor. There is also evidence that inhibitory control plays a part in the emergence of lying.

As noted above, inhibitory command is what we employ to override our automatic, genu-jerk impulses. It also helps us filter out irrelevant information, and stay focused on our goals.

Such abilities could clearly help the would-be liar. To maintain a prevarication, children need to monitor their own beliefs — brand sure that they go on their stories straight, and avoid letting the truth leak out by blow.

Are young children more likely to lie if they possess superior inhibitory control? That's what researchers found in a couple of "don't peek" studies:

Young children with superior inhibitory control were more likely to prevarication, even after decision-making for their chronological age (Talwar and Lee 2008; Evans and Lee 2013; Leduc et al 2017; O'Connor et al 2020).

So this research leave us with a stiff impression about the emergence of lying in young children. Information technology seems to follow naturally afterwards kids develop the necessary cerebral prerequisites.

And that makes sense; it'due south like the development of other abilities. Children reach new milestones – discover new powers – and immediately explore them.

After all, the incentives to deceive already exist: Children perceive that they can avert trouble through deception. They discover they tin can manipulate people to become what they want. It but remains for them to test the system.

Should we be disheartened by these findings? Disturbed that the development of cerebral maturity goes manus-in-hand with the development of lying?

I don't think so. This is what growing minds exercise when they discover new powers. Babies please in dropping objects from their high chairs once they develop the necessary concrete coordination. They find the furnishings of gravity, and test our responses. With lying, it'south much the same. As children develop new cerebral skills, they experiment with lying, and test our responses.

In that location are other parallels, too. A child doesn't wake upward one morn and all of a sudden find herself competent at a new physical skill. She achieves the milestone in steps, over fourth dimension. The aforementioned is truthful for cerebral skills, including skills related to deception.

When young children begin to prevarication, their lies are often unconvincing. For instance, those "don't peek" experiments. If you desire to become away with lying, you need to maintain a consistent story. It's not enough to insist that you didn't sneak a peek. You also need to pretend that y'all don't know the identity of the toy. When asked to gauge, you should either insist that yous have no idea, or deliberately provide an wrong respond.

But that'due south non what they do. Immediately subsequently claiming that they didn't peek, they typically blurt out the right answer. "It's Barney! It'due south Barney the majestic dinosaur." In i report, ninety% of three-, 4-, and 5-year-olds who lied made this fundamental mistake (Talwar and Lee 2002).

That sort of giveaway is chosen "semantic leakage," and it probably reflects poor inhibitory command, imperfect theory of mind, or both.

Equally children develop meliorate cognitive skills, they feel less semantic leakage. Merely at that place are growing pains, as exhibited past this five-year-old's response. She seemed to recognize the need to provide her listener with a plausible explanation for making a correct "approximate." Just her effort fell brusque:

"I didn't peek at information technology. I touched it and it felt purple. So, I remember it is Barney" (Talwar and Lee 2002).

Does this mean your child tin't fool you? I'yard afraid not. Researchers take documented many cases during "don't peek" experiments where especially savvy children performed perfectly. When the researchers played back video recordings to adults who didn't know the truth, these observers were unable to tell that the children had lied.

So young children  — peculiarly young children with potent mind-reading skills and self-control — tin sometimes pull the wool over our eyes.  Simply one time again, we shouldn't view this as disturbing or sinister. They are simply exploring the power of their well-adult psychological abilities.

But what near morality? When do children understand that it's wrong to tell a lie?

That's an interesting question, and a tricky i.

For example, in one study, researchers presented 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds with various truth-telling and lying scenarios, and asked the children for their opinions. The four-yr-olds didn't judge lies more negatively than truth-telling. Simply the 5-yr-olds did (Vendetti et al 2019).

So nosotros might  conclude that kids don't really grasp the "wrongness" of a prevarication until they are at least 5 years old. But that doesn't hateful that younger children never feel whatever qualms about lying. Information technology'due south possible that some 4-year-olds do experience a sure reluctance to lie, fifty-fifty if they don't label it every bit "wrong" or "bad" (He and Qin 2020).

And — more generally — the morality of lying can exist a complex, murkey business organisation.  Should you lot tell your grandmother a polite lie, or be brutally honest, and tell her that you hate the cake she baked for you?  Should you tell a cracking where his intended victim is hiding, or tell a fib to protect the innocent? Should you lie most your personal accomplishments — downplay them — in guild to exist modest?  Should you tell a prevarication to protect a friend, even if it causes harm to society? Should you lie for the public proficient, at the cost of causing damage to a friend?

Depending on your personal values and cultural upbringing, yous might endorse some or all of these types of lies. And when you were growing up, y'all had to make sense of information technology all, and figure out where you stood.

And so information technology isn't really as uncomplicated as learning that "it'due south incorrect to tell a lie." Kids must learn to counterbalance the value of truthfulness confronting other considerations, similar the need to be polite. Every bit I explain elsewhere, this more nuanced understanding of the morality of lying may not begin to emerge until kids are 6 or 7 years quondam. And kids may not reach developed-like levels of understanding until they are more than 11 years sometime (Fu et al 2007).

What can nosotros do to encourage kids to tell the truth?

A variety of studies point to the same answer: If we want kids to exist honest with united states of america, we need to create an environment that rewards truth-telling.

• We should show kids that we value honesty past modeling it ourselves, because children are more likely to tell lies if they've seen adults do the same (Hays and Carver 2014).
• When children make difficult confessions, we should praise them for their honest dealings (Lee et al 2014; Ma et al 2018).
• And, every bit I explain in some other article, opens in a new windownosotros should avoid trying to control children through threats and punishments. When adults take a harsh approach to discipline, children are more probable to tell lies (Talwar and Lee 2011).

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More than information well-nigh the development of lying in children

To acquire more well-nigh this fascinating research, check out these Parenting Scientific discipline manufactures:

• "Punitive environments encourage children to tell lies"
• "Bad role models: What happens when adults lie to children?
• "Why kids rebel: What kids believe about the legitimacy of authority"
• "Compassionate charade: Do children tell lies to be kind?"

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References: At what age do children begin to tell lies?

Broomfield K, Robinson EJ, Robinson WP. 2002. Children's understanding about white lies. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 20:47–65.

Ding XP, Wellman HM, Wang Y, Fu G, Lee K. 2015. Theory-of-Listen Grooming Causes Honest Young Children to Prevarication. Psychol Sci. 26(eleven):1812-21.

Ding XP, Heyman GD, Fu G, Zhu B, Lee K. 2018. Immature children discover how to deceive in 10 days: a microgenetic report. Dev Sci. 21(3):e12566

Fu Grand, Xu F, Cameron CA, Leyman G, Lee K. 2007. Cross-cultural differences in children's choices, categorizations, and evaluations of truths and lies. Dev Psychol. 43(2):278-93.

Fu K, Heyman GD, Chen G, Liu P, Lee Thousand. 2015. Children trust people who lie to benefit others. J Exp Child Psychol. 129:127-39.

Genyue F, Heyman GD, Lee K. 2011. Reasoning about modesty among adolescents and adults in Communist china and the U.Due south. J Adolesc. 2022 Aug;34(4):599-608.

Hays C and Carver LJ. 2014. Follow the liar: the furnishings of adult lies on children'southward honesty. Dev Sci. 17(half dozen):977-83.

He TS and Qin L. 2020. On the developmental origin of intrinsic honesty. PLoS One. 15(9):e0238241.

Heyman GD, Sweet MA, Lee K. 2009. Children's Reasoning nearly Prevarication-telling and Truth-telling in Politeness Contexts. Soc Dev. 18(iii):728-746.

Lee K. 2013. Fiddling Liars: Evolution of Verbal Deception in Children. Kid Dev Perspect. vii(2):91-96.

Lee M, Talwar V, McCarthy A, Ross I, Evans A, Arruda C. 2014. Can classic moral stories promote honesty in children? Psychol Sci. 25(8):1630-six.

Leduc K, Williams S, Gomez-Garibello C, Talwar V. 2017. The contributions of mental land understanding and executive functioning to preschool-anile children'due south prevarication-telling. Br J Dev Psychol. 35(2):288-302.

Ma F, Heyman GD, Jing C, Fu Y, Compton BJ, Xu F, Lee G. 2018. Promoting honesty in young children through observational learning. J Exp Child Psychol. 167:234-245.

O'Connor AM, Dykstra VW, Evans Advert. 2020. Executive functions and young children's prevarication-telling and prevarication maintenance. Dev Psychol. 56(7):1278-1289.

Primoratz I. 1984. Lying and the "Methods of Ideals."International Studies in Philosophy 16: 35–57.

Santos RM, Zanette S, Kwok SM, Heyman GD, Lee Chiliad. 2017. Exposure to Parenting by Lying in Childhood: Associations with Negative Outcomes in Adulthood. Front Psychol. 8:1240.

Talwar V and Crossman A. 2011. From little white lies to filthy liars: the development of honesty and charade in young children. Adv Child Dev Behav. 40:139-79.

Talwar Five and Lee K. 2011. A punitive environment fosters children's dishonesty: a natural experiment. Child Dev. 82(6):1751-8.

Wang L, Zhu L, and Wang Z. 2017. Parental mind-mindedness but not false belief understanding predicts Hong Kong children's prevarication-telling behavior in a temptation resistance task. J Exp Child Psychol. 162:89-100.

Warneken F and Orlins East. 2015. Children tell white lies to make others feel better. Br J Dev Psychol. 33(3):259-70.

Wimmer H and Perner J. 1983. Beliefs about beliefs: representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in immature children'southward understanding of deception. Cognition. 1983 Jan;13(1):103-28.

Williams S, Moore Thou, Crossman AM, Talwar 5. 2016. The role of executive functions and theory of mind in children'south prosocial prevarication-telling. J Exp Child Psychol. 141:256-66.

Content of "At what historic period exercise children begin to lie" final modified 9/2018

Closeup image of child looking sideways by Big D2112 /flickr/ ccbynd2

image of imitation belief task from Wimmer and Perner 1983

image of smiling toddler daughter past Marc Davis / flickr / ccby2

image of smiling toddler boy past rashida s. mar b. / flickr/ ccbysa

epitome of Barney past Themeplus / flickr/ ccbysa2

content last modified 9/2021

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