The Development Of 3-to 5-year-olds' Lie For Others And Its Influence Factors

Field research has suggested that children's earliest lies emerge as young as 2 years of age.The emergence and development of children's lie-telling ability appears to be related to their cognitive skills.Educators and developmental psychologists have been fascinated with lying behavior in children.However,there is limited empirical research that has directly addressed these issues in the context.Base on previous research,this study investigates the development patterns of children's lie-telling for others,and its relation to theory of mind and executive functioning.A total of 188 children aged among 3 to 5 years old participated in this study.The methods used to evaluate the children's lying-for-others behaviors involve a stranger(i.e.,the assistant)committing a transgression and requesting secrecy.We used theory-of-mind scale to measured children's theory of mind at the same time,and six classic tasks were used to measure children's executive function(including working memory,inhibition control,and cognitive flexibility components).The current study examined the development of children's lie-telling for others and the common effects of theory of mind and executive function.The main results were as follows:(1)Children's lying behavior for others increased with age,while the gender difference was significant.Girls were more likely than boys to conceal others transgression;Of the children who lied,no age effect on their's lie maintaining.(2)In the current study,it was found that 3 to 5 Year-olds,theory of mind predicted children's lie-telling behavior for other.Of the children who lied,there were no significant differences between theory of mind and children's lie maintaining.(3)The present study found a significant relation between 3 to 5 Year-olds'executive functioning and their lying behavior for others.Besides,among children's three principal components of executive functioning,only cognitive flexibility was positively associated with both children's lie-telling for others and lie maintaining.Conclusions:3 to 5 Year-olds' lying behavior for others was developed with age.Children's Lie-telling behavior was related to both children's theory of mind and executive functioning abilities.