Children who exhibit good memory skills are found to be good liars, according to new research.
A study by researchers at the University of Sheffield, University of North Florida, and University of Stirling found a connection between ability to lie and verbal memory in kids.
In the study, 144 children ages six and seven years old were given the opportunity--not instructed--to cheat during a trivia card game.
A hidden camera was set up during the game, which involved a fictitious cartoon character. Researchers then identified those children who cheated by peeking at the back of the card through the video captures.
Furthermore, researchers also asked the kids questions and were able to spot who among them was able to generate a good or bad lie.
For the experiment, the researchers evaluated the children's verbal and spatial memory.
The study also carried out separate memory tests and saw that the good liars were found to exhibit excellent memory skills for words, but no evidence found for being good with remembering images.
According to BBC News, researchers explained that good liars can have better verbal memory skills because lying involves keeping track of verbal information rather than visual information.
Kids are not supposed to lie to their elders, but according to developmental psychologist Dr. Elena Hoicka, lies from the little ones may be a good thing.
"While parents are usually not too proud when their kids lie, they can at least be pleased to discover that when their children are lying well, it means their children are becoming better at thinking and have good memory skills," Hoicka said in the BBC News report.
The researchers are now interested in finding out how children learn to come up with their first lie.
The findings of the study were published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
