DECEPTION AND ITS DETECTION IN CHILDREN - A STUDY OF ADULT ACCURACY

Three groups of participants, 20 social workers in the final year of t heir training, 20 trainee teachers, and 20 student controls, were asse ssed on their effectiveness in deciding if children were lying or tell ing the truth. Although differences did occur across groups, no group displayed overall superiority. The dearest discriminator between corre ct and incorrect classification of children was parental experience, w ith parents clearly doing significantly better than non-parents. The i ndication is that life experience may be an important competency in th is area.