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Deception by young children following noncompliance
1Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
Developmental Psychology
|March 19, 1999
Summary
Preschoolers can deceive about minor misdeeds, like touching a forbidden toy or looking in a box. However, their ability to feign ignorance is less developed than their capacity for direct denial.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Development
- Child Psychology
Background:
- Deception and false-belief understanding are key aspects of cognitive development in early childhood.
- Previous research established paradigms for studying these complex behaviors in young children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To adapt an existing paradigm to investigate deception and false-belief understanding in preschoolers.
- To examine children's ability to deny wrongdoing versus feigning ignorance.
Main Methods:
- Two studies adapted a paradigm involving minor prohibitions (touching a toy, looking in a box).
- Participants included 3- and 5-year-old children, with control groups given permission.
- Behavior (transgression) and verbal reports (denial, feigning ignorance) were recorded.
Main Results:
- Preschoolers frequently engaged in deception when faced with minor transgressions.
- Children were more likely to deny looking than to feign ignorance about the box contents.
- False-belief understanding correlated with denial of looking, but not with feigning ignorance.
Conclusions:
- Preschoolers demonstrate a capacity for deception in simple misdemeanor contexts.
- Denial of wrongdoing appears more robust than feigning ignorance in this age group.
- The findings offer insights into the developing theory of mind and social cognition.