Children can tell when you are using correct and accurate information

If you sometimes tell fibs “for the good” of your children (e.g., you have to eat or you won’t grow), be careful not to do it too often, otherwise they may categorize you as “unreliable.” A research study published in Plos One, which involved 662 children aged 3 to 13 years, has shown that at a very early age children are able to distinguish between individuals capable of delivering correct and accurate information and those who make mistakes.

To reach this conclusion, the authors of the study showed children several series of videos, in which actors had to guess what was in a box or give a definition of a word. Some of the actors were hesitant or wrong, while others seemed more confident and accurate in their information. The young participants were then asked to evaluate the actors, indicating which ones seemed to them to be the most intelligent and which ones they trusted the most.

The children’s responses indicated a tendency to learn more easily from people who do not make mistakes. Conversely, they found it more difficult to trust people who gave false information. Moreover, the researchers found that the ability to assess people’s credibility based on the answers they give appears as early as the age four or five.

However, it is only at around age eight that children begin to have a grasp of the concepts of self-confidence and hesitation. Until then it is more difficult for children to trust someone who appears hesitant, even when the situation warrants it. “More research will need to be conducted to find out when children start having a better understanding of hesitancy,’ points out researcher Susan Birch, who led the study.

In the light of the results of this study, the researchers recommend that parents and educators pay attention not only to what they communicate to children, but also to how they go about it, while ensuring that they maintain their credibility over the long term.