World Domination by the Under 9's

I was brought up from an early age to always speak the truth and not to lie.

This was through the setting of a fine example by my parents both good and honest people with not one deceitful or malicious word that I can recall, even though they were hard pushed by the stresses and upheaval of modern life and especially in the bringing up of five children.

When the moral compass of our mother and father were not available it was down to our education to instill in us the immorality and downright nastiness of lying.

This was usually through well tried and tested nursery rhymes and books along the lines of the boy who cried wolf, that naughty Hillaire Belloc character of Matilda and in the moral fear that our underwear would burst into flame if we were accused of being a liar, liar.

For me that was sanction enough but it now turns out through psychological research that being able to tell a lie, in childhood, is an indicator of a more advanced cognitive development.

In plain speak, children who lie are more advanced in their intelligence than those on the path of truth.

This does ring true after some thought.

There is a well known quote from someone I cannot now remember that "A liar needs to have a good memory". This is clearly the case when that first little fib or white lie has to be maintained over a long period calling upon greater application and intelligence to sustain it.

In the early developmental years the ability to lie is seen as a fundamental skill to stretch the far recesses of a young brain. In a test called a Temptation Resistance Paradigm young children under the age of 4 are asked to identify, unsighted, a toy animal working only on its sound. Moos, Baas and Oinks are an easy introduction but then the person conducting the test moves onto something less obvious such as the roar of a dinosaur. Before the attendant children can guess , the adult is called out of the room for a minute, supposedly to deal with a phone call. The children, under secret filming, cannot resist the temptation of investigating the hidden toy.

Upon returning to the room and interrogated (in the nicest possible manner) the children usually lie but the indicator of advanced intelligence for their young years is the extent to which they try to conceal the lie. The brightest ones have already processed the chain of events and have formulated the best way to answer the original question over the identity of the toy.

This process of being able to read and anticipate other people's minds displays enhanced interaction which will equip them well into their future adolescent and adult lives.

At the age of 2 only a quarter have an ability to lie. This increases rapidly over the next couple of years until a whopping 90% of four year olds are capable of maintaining a fib.

Those lagging behind in their cognitive development do catch up by the age of 7 to 8 with approaching 100% of deceitfulness.

This should strike fear into the consciousness of all parents and those in positions of responsibility and supervision of that conniving, scheming and manipulative age group.

However, the psychologists do know best and provide reassurance that lying is a reliable indicator of normal development.

The lack of truth does however show a decrease in the over 9's and into the pre-puberty years. By the age of 12 only 65% actively lie as the awareness of moral behaviour, social responsibility and a Jiminy Cricket type conscience combine to produce a more rounded sensitivity to events and surroundings.

This gives me some hope and encouragement for the future of mankind.

It is just a case of keeping the power ,influence and weapons of mass destruction out of the grubby little hands of those despicable 8 year olds.