The Effects Of Executive Function And Temperament On 3 To 5-year-olds' Lying Behavior

The existing research showed that children as young as 3 years old had been found to lie,but it had a great individual differences,some children lie while some children do not lie.So,this study we want to explore which factor will effect children's lying behavior.It had been found that the development of executive function can have a great influence on children's lying behavior.Meanwhile,it had also been found that the temperament may effect children's lying behavior.However,the results of the present studies were not consistent.Therefore,based on the existing researches,we further investigated the effects of executive function and temperament on 3 to 5-year-olds' lying behavior.A total of 292 children aged among 3 to 5 years old from two kindergartens in Hangzhou participated in this study.In study 1,we had explored the effects of executive function on children's lying behavior in 3 to 5 years old.The guessing game was used to investigate children's lying behavior.Six classic tasks were used to measure children's executive function,including Day / Night and Lion / Tiger for children's inhibitory control,Animal task and Love task for children's working memory,DCCS and Flanker fish for children's cognitive flexibility.In study 2,the Teacher Temperament Questionnaire was used to investigate children's temperament.We had explored the effects of temperament on children's lying behavior in 3 to 5 years old,and the common effects of executive function and temperament on children's lying behavior were discussed.The main results were as follows:(1)The age characteristics of children's lying behavior in 3 to 5 years old:The incidence of children's lying increased with age,while the sex difference was not significant.Children's lying strategy increased with age,and girls were better than boys.(2)The effects of executive function on children's lying behavior:There were no significant differences between the components of executive function and their total scores with children's transgression denial.Working memory was significantly associated with children's lying strategies,and there were age differences,only 5 years old children's working memory was positively predict children's lying strategies.Inhibition control,cognitive flexibility and executive function were not significantly associated with children's lying strategies.(3)The effects of temperament on children's lying behavior:Only temperamental approach-withdrawal was significantly associated with children's transgression denial,and there were age differences,only 3 years old children's temperamental approach-withdrawal was negatively predict children's transgression denial,while the other dimensions of temperament were not significant.Temperamental approach-withdrawal,threshold and intensity of reaction were associated with children's lying strategies,and there were age differences,only 5 years old children's temperamental approach-withdrawal and threshold were positively predict children's lying strategies,intensity of reaction was negatively predict children's lying strategies,while the other dimensions of temperament were not significant.(4)the moderating effect of temperament:Cognitive flexibility and temperamental mood alone predict children's lying strategies were not significant,but the interaction of them were significantly predict the 5 years old children's lying strategies.