The history of humankind is littered with crafty and seasoned liars. Lying, it turns out, is something that most of us are highly skilled in. We lie with ease, in ways big and small, to strangers, co-workers, friends, and loved ones. Being dishonest is woven into our very fabric, so much so that it would be truthful to say that to lie is human.
Like learning to walk and talk, lying is something of a developmental milestone. While parents often find their children’s lies troubling —for they signal the beginning of a loss of innocence—Kang Lee, a psychologist, sees the emergence of the behavior in children as a comforting sign that their cognitive(认知的)growth is on track.
To study lying in children, Lee and his colleagues use a simple experiment. They ask kids to guess the identity of toys hidden from their view, based on an audio clue. The sound played has nothing to do with the toy. “So you play Beethoven, but the toy’s a car,” Lee explains. The experimenter leaves the room, using the excuse of taking a phone call —a lie for the sake of science—and asks the child not to peek at the toy. Returning, the experimenter asks the child for the answer, following up with the question: “Did you peek or not?”
Most children can’t resist peeking. The percentage of the children who peek and then provide false statements about it depends on their age. Among two-year-old, only 30 percent are mendacious. Among three-year-old, 50 percent lie. And by eight, about 80 percent claim they didn’t peek.
What drives this increase in lying is the development of a child’s ability to put himself or herself in someone else’s shoes. Known as theory of mind, this is the facility we acquire for understanding the beliefs, intentions, and knowledge of others. What then might be the best way to block the rapid advance of untruths into our lives? The answer isn’t clear. Technology has opened up a new frontier for dishonesty, adding a 21st-century twist to the age-old problem.
27. What can we learn about the human tendency to lie?
A.It is a rare occurrence. | B.It is part of human nature. |
C.It emerges in adulthood. | D.It results from human greed. |
28. Which statement will Kang Lee probably agree with?
A.Children who lie are more likely to fail. |
B.Parents should prevent children from lying. |
C.Lying in children suggests a normal growth. |
D.Lying is a sign of a child’s loss of innocence. |
29. What were the children tasked to do in the experiment?
A.Determine the names of the hidden items. |
B.Provide false statements about their actions. |
C.Hide toys from the view of the experimenter. |
D.Guess the link between toys and sound clues. |
30. What does the underlined word “mendacious” mean in paragraph 4?
A.Untruthful. | B.Trustworthy. | C.Irresponsible. | D.Cooperative. |