Psychological Development and Education ›› 2013, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (5): 449-456.

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The Characteristics of 3-4-year-old Children’s Conceptual Knowledge of Lying：the Role of Theory of Mind and Parenting Style

XU Fen1,2, GUO Xiao-lin2, ZHANG Jia1   

  1. 1. School of Sciences, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018;
    2. National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875
  • Online:2013-09-15 Published:2013-09-15

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Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the contribution of children's theory of mind and parenting style to the individual differences in children's conceptual knowledge of lying. One hundred and sixty-five 3-to 4 year-olds were tested on language, theory of mind, and lying understanding measures. Parents were also given measures of parenting style. The results showed that all the children performed better on the judgment of the concept of lying than the judgment of the concept of truth-telling and 4 year-olds outperformed 3 year-olds. With age and verbal ability controlled, children's theory of mind was positively associated with their conceptual knowledge of lying, whereas authoritarian parenting was negatively associated with children's conceptual knowledge of lying. In addition, children's theory of mind was a part mediator between authoritarian parenting and children's conceptual knowledge of lying.

Key words: young children, conceptual knowledge of lying, theory of mind, authoritarian parenting

CLC Number: 

  • B844.1

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