The veracity of child witness testimony is central to the justice system where there are serious consequences for the child, the accused, and society. Thus, it is important to examine how children's lie-telling abilities develop and the factors that can influence their truthfulness. The current review examines children's lie-telling ability in…

The relation between children's lie-telling and their social and cognitive development was examined. Children (3-8 years) were told not to peek at a toy. Most children peeked and later lied about peeking. Children's subsequent verbal statements were not always consistent with their initial denial and leaked critical information revealing their…

Investigated the ability of 56 children of 2-4 years to deceptively lead others into false beliefs. Results show that 2 1/2-year-olds already practice a variety of deceptive strategies that presuppose an operative theory of mind. (RJC)