Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science, Laboratory for Research in Early Development and Childcare, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science, Laboratory for Research in Early Development and Childcare, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
Neuroimage. 2024 Sep;298:120795. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120795. Epub 2024 Aug 15.
Deception is an essential part of children's moral development. Previous developmental studies have shown that children start to deceive at the age of 3 years, and as age increased to 5 years, almost all children were able to deceive for their own benefit. Although behavioral studies have indicated that the emergence and development of deception are related to cognitive abilities, their neural correlates remain poorly understood. Therefore, the present study examined the neural correlates underlying deception in preschool-aged children (N = 89, 44 % boys, age 3.13 to 5.96 years, Han Chinese) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. A modified hide-and-seek paradigm was applied to elicit deceptive and truth-telling behaviors. The results showed that activation of bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was positively associated with the tendency to deceive an opponent in a competitive game in the 3-year-olds. In addition, 3-year-olds who showed a high tendency to deceive showed the same brain activation in the frontopolar area as 5-year-olds did when engaged in deception, whereas no such effect was found in 3-year-olds who never engaged in deception. These findings underscore the link between preschoolers' deception and prefrontal cortex function.
欺骗是儿童道德发展的重要组成部分。先前的发展研究表明，儿童在 3 岁时开始欺骗，随着年龄增长到 5 岁，几乎所有儿童都能够为了自己的利益而欺骗。虽然行为研究表明，欺骗的出现和发展与认知能力有关，但它们的神经相关性仍知之甚少。因此，本研究使用功能近红外光谱技术，对学龄前儿童（N = 89，44%为男性，年龄 3.13 至 5.96 岁，汉族）的欺骗行为的神经相关性进行了研究。采用改良的捉迷藏范式来引出欺骗和真实行为。结果表明，在竞争性游戏中，双侧背外侧前额叶皮层的激活与 3 岁儿童欺骗对手的倾向呈正相关。此外，在进行欺骗时，表现出高欺骗倾向的 3 岁儿童在前额极区的大脑激活与 5 岁儿童相同，而从未进行过欺骗的 3 岁儿童则没有这种效果。这些发现强调了学龄前儿童欺骗行为与前额叶皮层功能之间的联系。
