Victoria Talwar

Do lying children grow up to be criminals? Mostly not, study concludes

aurelie.boucher@mcgill.ca — Fri, 08 May 2026 17:56:51 +0000

Most childhood lying does not lead to serious problems in adulthood, and only certain kinds of lying behaviour is associated with later psychological or legal issues, a new study has found.

“Children do not all follow the same developmental pattern of lying,” said Victoria Talwar, a professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and lead author of the study. “Most children in our study showed low or declining levels of lying over time. For most, lying is not a problem behaviour.”

Pathological lying in teens is associated with executive function deficits, study indicates

aurelie.boucher@mcgill.ca — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:19:04 +0000

Teenagers who are pathological liars also tend to struggle with executive function deficits, such as poor memory or impulse control, researchers have found.

Bystanders in cyberbullying

mona.noonoo@mail.mcgill.ca — Wed, 25 Jul 2018 15:29:01 +0000

Your child is in elementary school and is begging you to buy them a cell phone, an iPod and iPad. Anything, as long as they can communicate with their friends, either by texting or through social media. As a parent, you’re worried about cyberbullying. Indeed, up to 30% of children and adolescents admit to cyberbullying others, while 25% of students report being victimized on electronic platforms. You rationalize that your child has lots of friends and that they will stand up for them in a bullying situation. Do they? What is the role of the bystander/friend during a bullying incident?

From election campaigns to dishonest monkeys: Why we're hard-wired to lie

priya.pajel@mail.mcgill.ca — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 17:19:12 +0000

According to ɬ�﷬'s Victoria Talwar, there are two main categories of lies: deceptions that are motivated by self-interest and lies that are designed to benefit others. CBC News

The truth about lying? Children’s perceptions get more nuanced with age

priya.pajel@mail.mcgill.ca — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 16:41:32 +0000

Parents don’t like it when children lie. But what do the kids themselves think about it? New research suggests truth telling isn’t black and white.

As children get older, their moral evaluations of both lies and truths is increasingly influenced by whether they think this behaviour will cause harm to either others or themselves.

Victoria Talwar

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 16:59:44 +0000