Children were taught how to deceive to win a game; these children deceived better than control children, & improved their executive function & theory of mind skills; claim it is the 1st experiment to show learning to deceive enhances cognitive skills in children

Learning to deceive has cognitive benefits. Xiao Pan Ding et al. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, Volume 176, December 2018, Pages 26-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2018.07.008

Highlights
•    Children played hide-and-seek game on four consecutive days.
•    Experimental children were taught how to deceive to win the game.
•    We found experimental children deceived better than control children.
•    Experimental children improved their executive function and theory of mind skills.
•    It is first to show learning to deceive enhances cognitive skills in children.

Abstract: Recent evolutionary, cultural, and economic theories have postulated strong connections between human sociality and complex cognition. One prediction derived from this work is that deception should confer cognitive benefits on children. The current research tests this possibility by examining whether learning to deceive during early childhood promotes more advanced theory of mind and executive function skills during a time when these skills are undergoing rapid development. A total of 42 children (Mage = 40.45 months; 22 boys and 20 girls) who showed no initial ability to deceive were randomly assigned to an experimental condition or a control condition. In both conditions, they played a hide-and-seek game against an adult opponent on 4 consecutive days, but only the children in the experimental condition were taught how to deceive the opponent in order to win the game. Unlike children in the control condition, children in the experimental condition significantly improved their executive function and theory of mind skills, providing the first evidence that learning to deceive causally enhances cognitive skills in young children.