Lying is common among adults and a more complex issue in children. In this article, I review two decades of empirical evidence about lying in children from the perspective of speech act theory. Children begin to tell lies in the preschool years for anti‐ and prosocial purposes, and their tendency to lie changes as a function of age and the type of lies being told. In addition, children's ability to tell convincing lies improves with age. In the article, I highlight the central roles that children's understanding of mental states and social conventions play in the development of lying. I also identify areas for research to be done to develop a more comprehensive picture of the typical and atypical developmental courses of verbal deception in children.

中文翻译：

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小骗子：儿童言语欺骗的发展。

说谎在成年人中很常见，而在儿童中则更为复杂。在这篇文章中，我从言语行为理论的角度回顾了二十年关于儿童撒谎的经验证据。为了反社会和亲社会的目的，孩子们在学龄前开始说谎，他们说谎的倾向随着年龄和被说谎的类型而变化。此外，儿童说出令人信服的谎言的能力随着年龄的增长而提高。在文章中，我强调了儿童对心理状态和社会习俗的理解在说谎发展中所起的核心作用。我还确定了需要研究的领域，以更全面地了解儿童口头欺骗的典型和非典型发展过程。