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Updated: Mar 6, 2026

The Modified Temptation Resistance Task: A Paradigm to Elicit Children's Strategic Lie-telling
Published on: April 6, 2018
Influence of social factors on the relation between lie-telling and children's cognitive abilities
Victoria Talwar1, Jennifer Lavoie1, Carlos Gomez-Garibello2
1Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada.
Abstract:
Lie-telling may be part of a normative developmental process for children. However, little is known about the complex interaction of social and cognitive factors related to this developmental behavior. The current study examined parenting style, maternal exposure to stressors, and children's cognitive abilities in relation to children's antisocial lie-telling behavior in an experimental setting. Children (3-6years, N=157) participated in a modified temptation resistance paradigm to elicit spontaneous lies. Results indicate that high authoritative parenting and high inhibitory control interact to predict a lower propensity to lie, but those who did lie had better semantic leakage control. This suggests that although children's lie-telling may be normative during early development, the relation to children's cognitive abilities can be moderated by responsive parenting behaviors that discourage lying.
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