Kids Lie Every 90 Minutes -- And That's a Good Thing (VIDEO)

Kids are bad at lying, at least at first. In the magical fairy dust of the childhood mind, kids initially have a hard time distinguishing reality from fancy, which you can see in their eagerness to engage in imaginative play.

They also perceive their parents to be essentially omniscient, a belief that won't be completely destroyed until the 20-kiloton blast of puberty. The fuse gets lit early, though, around 36 months, when kids begin to realize that parents can't always read their minds. To their delight (or horror), children discover they can give their parents false information without its being detected. Or, at least, they think they can. The child's realization that you can't always read his or her mind coincides with the flowering of something we call Theory of Mind skills.

What is Theory of Mind? This video from brainrules.net explains:

This timeline suggested to researchers that children have an age-dependent relationship with certain types of moral reasoning, too. There's evidence that kids are born with certain moral instincts, but it takes a while to coax them into their mature form.

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Watch more parenting videos or learn more about your baby's brain at brainrules.net.

John Medina is a developmental molecular biologist and author of the New York Times bestseller "Brain Rules." His latest book is "Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five." He is an affiliate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is also the director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University.

 

 

 

Follow John Medina, Ph.D. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/babybrainrules

Comments

[colomom]

04:52 PM on 01/16/2011

My kids crack me up when they lie. I can always see it, around the mouth. They are 11 and 13. I hope they never change. ;)

[nonamejustgame]

01:12 PM on 01/16/2011

Everybody else lies,why not kids?....Great article...new spin..

[Lawson Meadows]

03:32 AM on 01/16/2011

Dr. Medina,

Very interesting article; I went to your site and and after reading the introduction I cruised about a bit: impressive and readable... seeing a sense of humor was a welcome bonus.

I sincerely hope you are a regular contributor to Huffpost... I am a fan.

Lawson Meadows

[Duane7]

07:43 PM on 01/15/2011

With Fox news winning a court case to legally lie on TV all day and night why shouldn't they lie? If not the media then the Republicans and Tea baggers are doing it all the time, even when it comes to what they themselves have said. Mc Cain has flip flopped on his stances so many times no one can tell who he is anymore. We live with lies all around.. they need to be armed to do the same.

Sad. Evolve America.

[ebanks84]

07:17 PM on 01/15/2011

They can help but lie. Listen to all the lies they have to listen to 24/7. We teach them well.

[cayuse]

03:50 PM on 01/15/2011

I can understand Martha Stewart not telling the FBI she was quilty. My first reaction if they were standing at the door would be the same. Just in case I did something wrong I did not know what I did or what I do which is none of their business I would confess. Out of Court with the advice of a Lawyer.

Not unlike when I was a child getting a licked and I had to learn to HOLLER Loud but not before the first stoke or I really got it.

What surprises me is our JUSTICE system has been so trash by those hired by us to Lead us.

I recently looked up the word JUSTICE in Webster and it blew my mind. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness is state in the first sentence of the Constitution if you look up JUSTICE. It also punishes anyone who take it away from you.

Obama, Bush, Republicans run for you lives the Constitution is going to get you all