The role of social-cognitive abilities and antisocial processes in children's cheating

• In Event: Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Topic - Social Cognition

Abstract

From toddlerhood, children recognize that cheating¬—a covert and deliberate way to break a rule to gain an advantage—is an unacceptable behavior (Green, 2000; Piaget, 1965; Turiel, 1983). However, nearly a hundred years of research has demonstrated that despite their understanding of the importance of adhering to rules, children cheat regularly throughout childhood, suggesting that cheating may be an integral part of typical development (Hartshorne & May, 1928; Zhao et al., 2017; 2020). There has been a longstanding and unresolved debate since the beginning of developmental psychology regarding why children cheat. Some theorists believe cheating is determined by a set of core characteristics such as morality and integrity (Hall, 1893), while others believe that whether children cheat is due to external situational factors (Burton, 1963; Hartshorne & May, 1928). We examined whether cheating in childhood may also be affected by social-cognitive abilities, such as theory of mind (ToM) and executive functioning (EF), as well as antisocial processes associated with early signs of psychopathy.

Children (N=174) aged 6-12 years-old completed a novel ball-toss paradigm where they could cheat to win a prize. In the ball-toss game, children were instructed to throw 10 balls into a basket while standing behind a line taped to the floor. They were to throw each ball only once and if they got at least 7 balls in the basket they would win a prize. Children were left alone in the room while playing so that they could cheat without being seen (hidden cameras captured their cheating behaviors). Children also completed measures of EF using the NIH Toolbox (Weintraub et al., 2013) and two second-order false-belief tasks (Wimmer et al., 1983), while their parents completed a measure of children’s antisocial processes (Frick & Hare,2001).

Overall, 39% of participants cheated in the ball-toss paradigm. Logistic regression results demonstrated that children were less likely to cheat with age. Children’s level of antisocial processes and EF were significant predictors of whether children cheated. Specifically, children were more likely to cheat with increasing antisocial processes, but less likely to cheat with increased cognitive switching scores. ToM was not a significant predictor of children’s decision to cheat. We then isolated the cheaters (n=67) and examined whether differences exist in the magnitude of their cheating, measured by the number of points earned through cheating. A linear regression indicated that cheaters with higher antisocial processes cheated more frequently than those with lower antisocial processes scores. Children’s age, EF, and ToM were not significant predictors in the number of times children cheated. Thus, while cognitive switching seems to be an important factor in the decision to cheat, it does not significantly relate to the number of times cheaters will cheat. In contrast, children’s level of antisocial processes seems to be an important factor in both the decision to cheat and cheating frequency.

These findings contribute to the century-old debate about the nature of children’s cheating and provide a new perspective toward our understanding of the development of cheating in childhood.

Authors

• Sarah Zanette, University of Regina
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kang Lee, University of Toronto
  Presenting Author