They found that the more plausible the lie, the more quick witted they will be in later years and the better their abiliy to think on their feet.
"Parents should not be alarmed if their child tells a fib,” said Dr Kang Lee, director of the Institute of Child Study at Toronto Universit who carried out the research.
"Almost all children lie. Those who have better cognitive development lie better because they can cover up their tracks. They may make bankers in later life.”
Lying involves multiple brain processes, such as integrating sources of information and manipulating the data to their advantage.
It is linked to the development of brain regions that allow “executive functioning” and use higher order thinking and reasoning.
Dr Lee and his team tested 1,200 children aged two to 16 years old.
A majority of the volunteers told lies but it is the children with better cognitive abilities who can tell the best lies.
At the age of two, 20 per cent of children will lie. This rises to 50 per cent by three and almost 90 per cent at four. The most deceitful age, they discovered, was 12, when almost every child tells lies.
The tendency starts to fall away by the age of 16, when it is 70 per cent.
As adulthood approaches, young people learn instead to use the less harmful “white lies” that everyone tells to avoid hurting people’s feelings.
Researchers say there is no link between telling fibs in childhood and any tendency to cheat in exams or to become a fraudster later in life.
Nor does strict parenting or a religious upbringing have any impact.
Dr Lee said that catching your children lying was not a bad hing but should be exploited as a " "teachable moment".
"You shouldn’t smack or scream at your child but you should talk about the importance of honesty and the negativity of lying," he told the Sunday Times.
"After the age of eight the opportunities are going to be very rare.”
The research team invited younger children — one at a time — to sit in a room with hidden cameras. A soft toy was placed behind them.
When the researcher briefly left the room, the children were told not to look. In nine out of 10 cases cameras caught them peeking.
But when asked if they had looked, they almost always said no. They tripped themselves up when asked what they thought the toy might be.
One little girl asked to place her hand underneath a blanket that was over the toy before she answered the question. After feeling the toy but not seeing it, she said: “It feels purple so it must be Barney.”
Dr Lee, who caught his son Nathan, three, looking at the toy, said: “We even had cameras trained on their knees because we thought their legs would fidget if they were telling a lie, but it isn’t true.”
Older children were set a test paper but were told they must not look at the answers printed on the back.
Some of the questions were easy, such as who lives in the White House. But the children who looked at the back gave the printed answer “Presidius Akeman” to the bogus question “Who discovered Tunisia?”
When asked how they knew this, some said they learnt it in a history class.
引用内容 译文：
研究人员发现，二岁小孩有能力说出无伤大雅谎言，说明其大脑发育良好，意味着长大后有可能取得巨大成功机会。
他们发现，小孩说的谎言越可信，长大后大脑思维越敏捷，越有能力保护自己。这也意味着，这些小孩有“管理功能（executive function）”，为保护自己心里真实意图而编造使人信服谎言的能力。
“小孩撒些小谎，不应谴责他们父母。”进行该项研究的加拿大多伦多大学儿童学科研究所所长李抗（Kang Lee）博士如此说。
“几乎所有小孩都说过谎话。这些小孩为保守自己行踪秘密编造谎言，说明有良好发育大脑思维越敏捷，越有能力保护自己。这也意味着，这些小孩有“管理功能（executive function）”。长大后有可能成银行家。”
撒谎涉及大脑多重思维，例如，为保护自己不受谴责，要整合分析信息源和编造虚假数据。
这活动与大脑发育有关。智力健全大脑有良好“管理功能”，能考虑重要性次序并进行逻辑推理。
李博士和他的团队对年龄在2岁与16岁之间的1200个小孩进行过测试。
绝大多数志愿者承认说过谎，但有良好认知能力小孩说的谎言能以假乱真。
二岁小孩有百分之二十会撒谎，到三岁时增加到百分之五十，到了四岁时几乎增加到百分之九十。研究发现，年龄十二岁小孩几乎都会撒谎。
到了十六岁年龄，增大趋势开始下降，比例占百分之七十。
进入成年期，年轻人学着讲些无伤大雅“善意谎言（white lies）”， 避免伤害别人感情。
研究人员说，孩童期撒谎和任何考试作弊行为或长大后成为诈骗犯之间没有联系。
这对严厉的家庭教育和道德培养不会有任何影响。
李博士说，发现自己小孩撒谎，不用惊奇，但应把它当成进行“教育小孩良机”。
“不要借故殴打或辱骂小孩，但应讲清诚实的重要性和撒谎的危害。” 李博士告诉星期日泰晤士报（Sunday Times）记者。
“八岁以后，这种机会就会逐渐减少。”
研究团队邀请几个少年坐在有隐藏摄像机的屋内进行实验，每次进到屋内只许一人。他们背后放置了一个毛绒玩具。
研究人员叮嘱小孩不要向后面看，才离开房间。通过摄像机捕捉到小孩偷看后面玩具的人数，占百分之九十。
研究人员问小孩是否看了后面，他们几乎都说没看。当问到他们认为玩具可能是什么样的，就泄露出他们说的是谎话了。
有一个小女孩回答我们的问题。在回答问题前，要她把手放在盖着玩具的毯子下面。允许她摸玩具但不许看，她摸了一下后说：“我感到它是紫色的，是个巴尼娃娃。”。
逮住自己三岁儿子内森（Nathan）正在看玩具的李博士说：“我们甚至用过摄像机瞄准他们膝盖，因为我们认为他们撒谎大腿会出现不安的颤动，不过不管用。”
对年纪稍大小孩做过一份试卷，交待他们不要看后面答案。
试卷中提的问题有些是很容易的，例如谁住在白宫。但是小孩们看了试卷反面给出虚假问题“谁发现突尼斯？”的答案后做出回答“总统阿克曼”。
当问到他们是如何知道的，其中有人说是从历史课学到的。
研究人员发现，二岁小孩有能力说出无伤大雅谎言，说明其大脑发育良好，意味着长大后有可能取得巨大成功机会。
他们发现，小孩说的谎言越可信，长大后大脑思维越敏捷，越有能力保护自己。这也意味着，这些小孩有“管理功能（executive function）”，为保护自己心里真实意图而编造使人信服谎言的能力。
“小孩撒些小谎，不应谴责他们父母。”进行该项研究的加拿大多伦多大学儿童学科研究所所长李抗（Kang Lee）博士如此说。
“几乎所有小孩都说过谎话。这些小孩为保守自己行踪秘密编造谎言，说明有良好发育大脑思维越敏捷，越有能力保护自己。这也意味着，这些小孩有“管理功能（executive function）”。长大后有可能成银行家。”
撒谎涉及大脑多重思维，例如，为保护自己不受谴责，要整合分析信息源和编造虚假数据。
这活动与大脑发育有关。智力健全大脑有良好“管理功能”，能考虑重要性次序并进行逻辑推理。
李博士和他的团队对年龄在2岁与16岁之间的1200个小孩进行过测试。
绝大多数志愿者承认说过谎，但有良好认知能力小孩说的谎言能以假乱真。
二岁小孩有百分之二十会撒谎，到三岁时增加到百分之五十，到了四岁时几乎增加到百分之九十。研究发现，年龄十二岁小孩几乎都会撒谎。
到了十六岁年龄，增大趋势开始下降，比例占百分之七十。
进入成年期，年轻人学着讲些无伤大雅“善意谎言（white lies）”， 避免伤害别人感情。
研究人员说，孩童期撒谎和任何考试作弊行为或长大后成为诈骗犯之间没有联系。
这对严厉的家庭教育和道德培养不会有任何影响。
李博士说，发现自己小孩撒谎，不用惊奇，但应把它当成进行“教育小孩良机”。
“不要借故殴打或辱骂小孩，但应讲清诚实的重要性和撒谎的危害。” 李博士告诉星期日泰晤士报（Sunday Times）记者。
“八岁以后，这种机会就会逐渐减少。”
研究团队邀请几个少年坐在有隐藏摄像机的屋内进行实验，每次进到屋内只许一人。他们背后放置了一个毛绒玩具。
研究人员叮嘱小孩不要向后面看，才离开房间。通过摄像机捕捉到小孩偷看后面玩具的人数，占百分之九十。
研究人员问小孩是否看了后面，他们几乎都说没看。当问到他们认为玩具可能是什么样的，就泄露出他们说的是谎话了。
有一个小女孩回答我们的问题。在回答问题前，要她把手放在盖着玩具的毯子下面。允许她摸玩具但不许看，她摸了一下后说：“我感到它是紫色的，是个巴尼娃娃。”。
逮住自己三岁儿子内森（Nathan）正在看玩具的李博士说：“我们甚至用过摄像机瞄准他们膝盖，因为我们认为他们撒谎大腿会出现不安的颤动，不过不管用。”
对年纪稍大小孩做过一份试卷，交待他们不要看后面答案。
试卷中提的问题有些是很容易的，例如谁住在白宫。但是小孩们看了试卷反面给出虚假问题“谁发现突尼斯？”的答案后做出回答“总统阿克曼”。
当问到他们是如何知道的，其中有人说是从历史课学到的。
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