Learning how to fib can be good for children’s brains

Toronto, Sept. 1: Most children are taught not to lie from a young age.

But a new study from researchers at University of Toronto has found that learning to fib might actually have wide- ranging cognitive benefits.

A group of 42 preschoolaged children — none of which showed an ability to lie - were split into two factions: a control group and another group which was taught how to lie in order to win a hide- andseek game.

Most children are taught not to lie from a young age. But a new study has found that learning to fib might actually have wideranging cognitive benefits

The group of boys and girls, which had an average age of about 40 months, played a game where they had to hide a snack, like popcorn, from an adult over the course of four days.

As part of the game, the adult had to select which hand the child had hid in the popcorn in.

If the child was able to deceive the adult, they could keep the treat.

Each child was then given a standardised test measuring executive functions, which include things like theory of mind, or the ability to understand what another person's intentions are.

They found that the children who were taught to deceive ended up outperforming the control group. “With just a few days of instruction, children learned to deceive and gained immediate cognitive benefits from doing so,” the researchers wrote.