[Buddha-l] Morals in 6 months old kids

[JKirkpatrick]

All that this suggests to me is that kids are born with a
self-preservation instinct, hence lying when doing what they were
told not to do. 

Agreed about what adults do. In fact these so-called experiments
are simply training kids to lie....preparing them, for the big
world ahead.

Joanna
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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
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