[Buddha-l] Morals in 6 months old kids

[Richard Hayes]

On May 23, 2010, at 8:38 PM, JKirkpatrick wrote:

> I'm wondering how the McGill psychologist decided as between lies
> and fantasy.
> Toddlers (2-5) often have a rich fantasy life and don't always
> discriminate between their imaginations and what we see as
> reality.

The experiment is discussed in some detail on "As it happens" for May 18, 2010. You can listen to the podcast by going to the web page for that day's program:
http://www.cbc.ca/radioshows/AS_IT_HAPPENS/20100518.shtml
You might be able to find out even more by doing a search for the lead researcher, Victoria Talwar, who is an Associate Professor of Human Development at McGill University.

In brief, the researcher placed a toy in a hidden place and told the child where the toy was hidden and said not to peek at the toy. The researcher then left the room for a minute and came back in. A camera recorded the child's behaviour. Almost all the children peeked. When asked whether they had looked, 70% lied. The study also included asking the children follow-up questions, such as "What do you think the hidden toy might be?" Slightly older children, around age 4, had learned to cover up their initial lie with another one, such as "How should I know? I didn't look." Younger children were not very good at covering up their initial lie. My favorite bungled cover up was "I think it might be a purple cat. I didn't peek, but I touched it, and it felt purple." What the study shows, I think, is that by age 4 a child is ready to run for public office.

One thing the psychologist said that intrigued me was that even though children eventually learn that lying is not acceptable behaviour, it is almost unheard of for a human being to stop telling lies. What they learn to do is to justify their lying by calling it something like upāya. The Buddhists knew that stratagem very well.

Richard