Children with a better working memory can tell better lies according to a new study by researchers from the University of North Florida and the University of Sheffield, U.K.
Are Kids Who Tell Better Lies Smarter?
We all know that children don’t always tell the truth, but what makes some children better than others at lying? Dr. Tracy Alloway and her colleagues at the University of North Florida published a study in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology that linked a high verbal working memory to a better ability to tell and remember a lie.
Working memory is about processing information, an essential skill when telling a convincing fib. When expressing a verbal lie, the ability to process information correctly while considering the listener’s point of view is a sign that the child has a higher cognitive sense.
In the study, 137 child participants between 6 and 7 years old were tested for verbal working memory by Dr. Tracy Alloway (UNF) and her colleagues. After their tests, the children were given trivia cards in different colors with the answers printed on the back of each card. Researchers instructed the kids not to peek. Then, the researchers left the room to observe the children via a hidden camera.
Kids with Higher Working Memories Avoid Entrapment
When the researchers came back to ask the trivia questions, the cheating kids, of course gave the correct answers. The researchers then used entrapment to “catch” the kids in their cheating by asking the card’s color. The kids with a better verbal working memory purposefully answered incorrect to conceal their cheating. Those with lower working memories accidentally revealed their peeking by answering the right color.
Though the study showed a connection between verbal working memory and lying, the same cannot be said about visuospatial working memory, which concerns processing visual and spatial information. Researchers believe this to be attributable to the fact lies concern verbal rather than visual construction and recall.
What Can Lying Kids Teach Adults About Working Memory?
Dr. Elena Hoika, psychology professor at the University of Sheffield, acknowledged that adults lie, whether convincingly or not, in nearly a fifth of social interactions over 10 minutes. Adults who lie may be the very parents who lecture their children for lying, but the researchers encourage parents not to become too upset. After all, if your child can tell a believable lie, it might just mean they are more intelligent.
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Children with a Better Working Memory are Better Liars
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