New research suggests that children with good memory are much better at telling tales "to get out of certain transgressions," Forbes reported.
Researchers from the Universities of Sheffield and North Florida found that good liars performed better on verbal memory tests compared to bad liars. They concluded that kids with good memory are much better at covering up their lies
"While parents are usually not too proud when their kids lie, they can at least be pleased to discover that when their children are lying well, it means their children are becoming better at thinking and have good memory skills," researcher Dr. Elena Hoicka said in a statement.
For the study, researchers investigated the role of working memory in verbal deception amongst children. They recruited more than 100 6- to 7-year-old children to take a trivia quiz, they were told the answers were on the back and were instructed not to peek at the final answers. A hidden camera enabled researchers to identify who had peeked, despite denials.
Researchers further questioned the children to identify who was a good liar. During the experiment, researchers then measured two elements: verbal and visuo-spatial working memory in the children.
"It takes mental effort to keep in mind what you know you did, what you think the researcher knows, and plan a way so you don't get caught," study author Tracy Alloway told Forbes.
Researchers believe the link between lying and verbal memory stems from the fact that covering lies involves keeping track of lots of verbal information, Medical Daily reported. As a result, kids who possessed better memories and could keep track of their lies.
"We already know that adults lie in approximately a fifth of their social exchanges lasting 10 or more minutes, so it's interesting to know why some children are able to tell more porkies than others. We'll now be looking to move the research forward to discover more about how children first learn to lie," Hoicka said.
The findings are detailed in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
