In this episode, we wanted to see if our children could distinguish between actions such as stealing sweets and not saying thank you, or leaving their room untidy and kicking their family pet. We used puppets to represent the different kinds of action. Most knew that kicking or stealing were 'worse' or 'more naughty' than talking in class or leaving a room untidy. Scientists call this the ability to distinguish between what's morally wrong and what's social convention. The children are being brought up with different set of values, often reflecting the religious and spiritual beliefs of their parents. When asked, one of the children described themselves as a Buddhist, another a Hindu and another an atheist. Most said they were Christian, but their understanding of Christianity and God was diverse. At four years old, most children know the difference between telling the truth and lying and know it's wrong to lie. Generally, they're truthful and when they're not, it's obvious. By eight, children have learnt not only how to lie to avoid punishment but also how to tell white lies to protect others from harm. Lying and cheatingDeveloping the ability to lie shows a child understands right and wrong. It's also a good measure of how much children understand other people's minds. Being able to lie and not get caught is a good indication that a child is learning the social skills necessary to survive. The ability to lie to help others shows the development of empathy and altruism.
 Some of them were so eager to tell on their parents, they came looking for us
We tried to measure whether our six-year-olds would lie to protect a parent. The parents deliberately knocked over some marbles and asked their children not to tell on them. Most of our children weren't able to tell such a complex lie. Some of them were so eager to tell on their parents, they came looking for us. Cheating, like lying, is a stage of moral developmental. Young children 'play' with cheating for pleasure, to test whether it can work and how far they can push it. Experimenting with cheating can be beneficial for a child's cognitive development. At five to six years old, many children cheat if the opportunity arises. We asked each child, in a room on their own, to move ping-pong balls from a small bucket to a container using a wobbly scoop. It's an impossible task, but in similar experiments all over the world, scientists have observed that almost all young children will have a go. Then they'll cheat. Our children were no exception. But some owned up immediately, while others held out to the very end. ObedienceOur final experiment was based on a famous test called Obedience, devised in the US in the 1950s. In the original experiment, volunteers were asked to give dangerously high electric shocks to someone sitting in another room when a simple question was answered incorrectly. The results shocked the nation. About 65 per cent of people gave the maximum shock possible, while 40 per cent of people continued even when the person was sitting next to them. The person 'receiving' the shock was in fact an actor. We wanted to try something similar, although not involving electric shocks. Our researcher gave four children a photograph of an elderly couple, saying they were her parents and very special to her. She then asked the children to tear it up. One child tore up it immediately, but then tried to put it back together. Another tore it up very reluctantly, and another was deeply unhappy but obeyed. The final child refused. The results suggested six-year-olds are much more moral than adults, certainly more moral than those tested in Obedience.
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