title: The role of executive functions and theory of mind in children's prosocial lie-telling.
abstract: Children's prosocial lying was examined in relation to executive functioning skills and theory of mind development. Prosocial lying was observed using a disappointing gift paradigm. Of the 79 children (ages 6-12 years) who completed the disappointing gift paradigm, 47 (59.5%) told a prosocial lie to a research assistant about liking their prize. In addition, of those children who told prosocial lies, 25 (53.2%) maintained semantic leakage control during follow-up questioning, thereby demonstrating advanced lie-telling skills. When executive functioning was examined, children who told prosocial lies were found to have significantly higher performance on measures of working memory and inhibitory control. In addition, children who lied and maintained semantic leakage control also displayed more advanced theory of mind understanding. Although children's age was not a predictor of lie-telling behavior (i.e., truthful vs. lie-teller), age was a significant predictor of semantic leakage control, with older children being more likely to maintain their lies during follow-up questioning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada. Electronic address: shanna.williams@mail.mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Shanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada.
authors.forename: Kelsey
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, John Jay College, City University of New York (CUNY), New York, NY 10019, USA.
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Crossman
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Talwar
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology; D008192:Deception; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Children; Cognitive; Executive functioning; Lie-telling; Prosocial; Theory of mind