Purpose Statement
Lying cannot be prevented because it will be done even when people are not aware (Xu, Bao, Fu, Talwar, & Lee, 2010). The complexity of the human mind has made it possible to tell lies especially when the situation will favor it. As such, lying is done in order to achieve a goal which cannot be accomplished by telling the truth (Lee, 2013). In fact, it is one of the abilities of humans that separate them from other animals (Van, 1991). Depending on its usage, lies and deceptions can cause harm especially when used to other people. Taking advantage of other people to believe one’s statement is one grave mistake, especially if the reason is something confidential. In the society, lying is also considered as unethical, so people are being discouraged to treat lying as a habitual practice (Talwar & Lee, 2008).
As lying has been taking roles in the everyday lives of human, other people strived to prohibit its incidence especially for the younger generations. Several driving forces exist to help in the prevention of lies and deceptions at the early stage of development of the children. Parents are the ones who are most responsible for this part, especially through their actions, because they will always serve as a role model to their children. There are no guidelines for setting up the rule; any legal action is permissible in the eyes of the law and society (Leach, Talwar, Lee, Bala, & Lindsay, 2004). As long as the objective is within reach, and lying can be significantly prevented, the methods that will be can be followed by others as well to prevent lies and deception to develop into a form of habit. Unfortunately, and as stated earlier, lying also develops unconsciously, so at some time, people resort to lie without them realizing it until the very end. However, lying can be minimized in the childhood days, especially if the children are taught to always tell the truth. It is because during this time, children have to obey to their parents or they will receive different forms of punishment (Li, Kelley, Evans & Lee, 2011).
The purpose of this paper is to determine the earliest year possible for a child to develop lies and use it for his own convenience. Studies have shown that lies develop for as early as three years old (Ahern, Lyon, & Quas, 2011). However, most of the children cannot keep up for their lies because they often contradict their first statements (Talwar, Gordon, & Lee, 2007). When presented with reinforcements such as rewards, children will be willing to tell lies even if they are instructed with someone they do not know, thus making them more vulnerable (Talwar, Murphy, & Lee, 2007). Also, this ability can also influence the development of their cognitive abilities as well as their behavior (Evans & Lee, 2013). With these results from previous studies, it is implied that children are prone from development of deceptions and lies within them, especially if they are being rewarded.
Main Hypothesis
The main hypothesis of the study is that children will develop signs of lies and deceptions for as early as two years old. However, in this stage, lies will not be consistent all throughout and their lies will be easier to recognize.
Type of Design
Since the purpose will be determination of lies and deceptive statements among children in relation with their age, environmental factors, rewards, as well the socioeconomic status of the family, the research is well suited for correlational research.
Variables
The criterion will be the signs of lies and deceptions. The signs will be defined as the contradictions in the statements of children during the experimental part. The predictors will be age, socioeconomic status, reinforcements and the environment where the children came from. The factors related to the environment are family size and the population within the one square kilometer area from the house of the children (Evans & Lee, 2013).
Methods
The participants of the study will be at least 60 children, two to four (2-4) years old, which are grouped equally according to their age. Participants will be obtained from nearby communities and parental consent will be sought as well. The study will also ensure that children will not make habitual acts of lying after the duration of the study. The study disclaims the act of lying and deception, and the study is purely for academic purposes only. The source of the study will be 10 reviewed articles that have high relevance to the topic. The procedure will be synthesized from the procedures of the articles as well. The equipments to be used are the following: (1) pictures of animals; (2) coins; (3) candies and other sweets; (4) toys. Note that the last three items will be used for rewards. Children have different preferences but these three are the most favorite among children.
Ethics
It has been stated earlier that parental consent will be sought first before a child will be included in the study. Lies and deception are issues among parents and some of them might have strict prohibition implementation to their children, so the parents can refuse at their own will. Also, every part of the study is for academic purposes and the lying and deception incidence that will occur will not be tolerated outside the research premises. The confidentiality of the participants will also be assured and the information will be within the grasps of the researchers only.
Statistics
Regression analysis will be used to determine the strength of correlation between age and lying, environmental factors and lying, socioeconomic status and lying, and between rewards and lying.
References
Ahern, E., Lyon, T., &Quas, J. (2011).Young Children's Emerging Ability to Make False Statements. Developmental Psychology,47(1), 61-66.
Evans, A., & Lee, K. (2013).Emergence of Lying in Very Young Children.Developmental Psychology, 49(10), 1958-1963.
Leach, A., Talwar, V., Lee, K., Bala, N., & Lindsay, R. (2004). “Intuitive” Lie Detection of Children’s Deception by Law Enforcement Officials and University Students. Law and Human Behavior, 28(6), 661-685.
Lee, K. (2013). Little Liars: Development of Verbal Deception in Children. Child Development Perspectives,7(2), 91-96.
Li, A., Kelley, E., Evans, A., & Lee, K. (2011).Exploring the Ability to Deceive in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41(2), 185-195.
Talwar, V., Gordon, H., & Lee, K. (2007). Lying in the Elementary School Years. Developmental Psychology, 43(3), 804-810.
Talwar, V., & Lee, K. (2008). Social and Cognitive Correlates of Children’s Lying Behavior. Child Development, 79(4), 866-881.
Talwar, V., Murphy, S., & Lee, K. (2007). White lie-telling in children for politeness purposes. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31(1), 1-11.
Van, J. (1991, February 17). Scholars Say It`s True: Lying Is Part Of Human Nature. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 26, 2015, from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-02- 17/news/9101150700_1_deception-humans-animals.
Xu, F., Bao, X., Fu, G., Talwar, V., & Lee, K. (2010). Lying and Truth-Telling in Children: From Concept to Action. Child Development, 81(2), 581-596.
