Scientific research on how children learn to tell lies has existed for more than a century. Earlier studies mainly focused on moral, social, and situational factors contributing to the development of lying. Researchers have only begun to explore the cognitive correlations of children's lying in the last two decades. Cognitive theories suggest that theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF) should be closely related to the development of lying since lying is, in essence, ToM and EF in action. Yet, findings from empirical studies are mixed. To address this issue, the current meta-analysis reviewed all prior literature that examined the relations between children's lying and ToM and/or between children's lying and EF. In total, 47 papers consisting of 5099 participants between 2 and 19 years of age were included, which yielded 74 effect sizes for ToM and 94 effect sizes for EF. Statistically significant but relatively small effects were found between children's lying and ToM (r = .17) and between lying and EF (r = .13). Furthermore, EF’s correlation with children's initial lies was significantly smaller than its correlation with children's ability to maintain lies. This comprehensive meta-analysis provides a clear picture of the associations between children's ToM/EF and their lying behavior and confirms that ToM and EF indeed play a positive role in children's lying and its development.

中文翻译：

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心理理论、执行功能和儿童撒谎：荟萃分析

关于儿童如何学会说谎的科学研究已经存在了一个多世纪。早期的研究主要集中在有助于说谎发展的道德、社会和情境因素。在过去的二十年里，研究人员才开始探索儿童说谎的认知相关性。认知理论认为，心理理论 (ToM) 和执行功能 (EF) 应该与说谎的发展密切相关，因为说谎本质上是 ToM 和 EF 在行动。然而，实证研究的结果喜忧参半。为了解决这个问题，目前的荟萃分析回顾了所有先前研究儿童说谎与 ToM 之间和/或儿童说谎与 EF 之间关系的文献。总共纳入了 47 篇论文，包括 5099 名 2 至 19 岁的参与者，这为 ToM 产生了 74 个效果大小，为 EF 产生了 94 个效果大小。在儿童说谎和 ToM 之间发现了统计学上显着但相对较小的影响（r  = .17) 以及在躺着和 EF 之间 ( r  = .13)。此外，EF与儿童初始谎言的相关性显着小于其与儿童维持谎言能力的相关性。这项全面的荟萃分析清楚地说明了儿童 ToM/EF 与其说谎行为之间的关联，并证实 ToM 和 EF 确实在儿童说谎及其发展中发挥了积极作用。