While the majority of developmental deception research has examined the truth- and lie-telling behaviours of younger children (3 to 8 years of age), the development of deceptive behaviours in older children and adolescents has mainly been ignored, despite the fact that this age group appears more frequently in forensic settings. The general goal of this dissertation was to examine deceptive behaviours in 8- to 16-year-olds including the development of lie-telling behaviours and the ability to detect their lies. The investigation began by examining the influence of promising to tell the truth and moral competency tests on the veracity of 8- to 16-year-olds statements. Consistent with previous findings with younger children (Lyon et al., 2008; Talwar et al., 2002), 8- to 16-year-olds were significantly more likely to tell the truth after promising. Additionally, asking children to complete a competency test did not influence the veracity of children’s statements alone. Next, building on previous findings with 3- to 7-year-olds (Talwar & Lee, 2008) the relation between concealing a transgression through verbal deception and cognitive development was examined in 8- to 16-year-olds. Consistent with previous findings with younger children (Talwar & Lee, 2008), these results indicate that both working memory and inhibitory control are related to the sophistication of lies. In addition, the present study demonstrates that 8- to 16-year-olds planning ability is also related to the sophistication of their lies. Finally, the ability to detect 8- to 16-year-olds lies was examined. Overall, detection rates were around chance levels for both parents and 8- to 17-year-olds. However, consistent with findings with younger children (Leach et al., 2004), parents’ rates were significantly above chance for detecting lies after the speaker had promised to tell the truth. Overall, these results demonstrate that while 8- to 16-year-olds show similar patterns of deception as younger children, developments during this period resulted in additional findings calling for the examination of this older population.

While the majority of developmental deception research has examined the truth- and lie-telling behaviours of younger children (3 to 8 years of age), the development of deceptive behaviours in older children and adolescents has mainly been ignored, despite the fact that this age group appears more frequently in forensic settings. The general goal of this dissertation was to examine deceptive behaviours in 8- to 16-year-olds including the development of lie-telling behaviours and the ability to detect their lies. The investigation began by examining the influence of promising to tell the truth and moral competency tests on the veracity of 8- to 16-year-olds statements. Consistent with previous findings with younger children (Lyon et al., 2008; Talwar et al., 2002), 8- to 16-year-olds were significantly more likely to tell the truth after promising. Additionally, asking children to complete a competency test did not influence the veracity of children’s statements alone. Next, building on previous findings with 3- to 7-year-olds (Talwar & Lee, 2008) the relation between concealing a transgression through verbal deception and cognitive development was examined in 8- to 16-year-olds. Consistent with previous findings with younger children (Talwar & Lee, 2008), these results indicate that both working memory and inhibitory control are related to the sophistication of lies. In addition, the present study demonstrates that 8- to 16-year-olds planning ability is also related to the sophistication of their lies. Finally, the ability to detect 8- to 16-year-olds lies was examined. Overall, detection rates were around chance levels for both parents and 8- to 17-year-olds. However, consistent with findings with younger children (Leach et al., 2004), parents’ rates were significantly above chance for detecting lies after the speaker had promised to tell the truth. Overall, these results demonstrate that while 8- to 16-year-olds show similar patterns of deception as younger children, developments during this period resulted in additional findings calling for the examination of this older population.

Individuals with no immigration status are one of the fastest growing migrant populations in Canada, totaling over half a million. Yet, there has been little empirical research on the developmental impacts of living without formal immigration status. In the present study, 47 non-status adolescents were interviewed about their general experiences of growing up in Canada without status, to examine the mental health and developmental impacts particular to this population. Results from the study indicated that lack of immigration status is implicated in significant developmental impairments. Lack of immigration status is associated with difficulties with identity formation and consolidation, compromised self-efficacy, acculturative stress and compromised peer relations, which in turn results in poorer developmental and mental health outcomes. Findings are discussed in terms of both theoretical and practical implications, and directions for future research are outlined.

Individuals with no immigration status are one of the fastest growing migrant populations in Canada, totaling over half a million. Yet, there has been little empirical research on the developmental impacts of living without formal immigration status. In the present study, 47 non-status adolescents were interviewed about their general experiences of growing up in Canada without status, to examine the mental health and developmental impacts particular to this population. Results from the study indicated that lack of immigration status is implicated in significant developmental impairments. Lack of immigration status is associated with difficulties with identity formation and consolidation, compromised self-efficacy, acculturative stress and compromised peer relations, which in turn results in poorer developmental and mental health outcomes. Findings are discussed in terms of both theoretical and practical implications, and directions for future research are outlined.

Increasing access to rights for young people has highlighted the fact that little is known about their thinking and understanding of rights issues. However, expanding children’s access to rights without adequate knowledge of how they understand, experience and are able to use these rights, may be detrimental to their well-being. Thus far, research has explored conceptions of rights in several populations, including school aged children and young offenders, but little attention has been focused on maltreated children – a particularly vulnerable group. The purpose of the current study was to examine conceptions of and attitudes towards children’s nurturance and self-determination rights in 10-18-year-old children with histories of maltreatment who were living in state care. Associations between rights conceptions and attitudes, and factors related to the experience of maltreatment and child welfare care (e.g. type of maltreatment, type of foster care, time in care, and number of foster care placement changes), were explored. Rights concepts were assessed by having participants generate and discuss children’s rights issues arising in three contexts: home, school and the greater community, as well as through general knowledge questions. Attitudes were assessed using the Children’s ii iii Rights Attitudes questionnaire (Peterson-Badali, Morine, Ruck & Day, 2004), a 32 item likert-scale measure of children’s endorsement of various nurturance and self-determination rights. Results indicated that, while maltreated children’s conceptions of rights did frequently vary from previous findings with non-maltreated children, there were also a number of broad-based similarities. Interestingly, while maltreatment and child welfare care variables were largely unrelated to rights conceptions and attitudes, participants’ understanding did appear to be informed by the particular concerns that emerged from their unique circumstances (e.g., the fulfillment of basic needs such as food, clothing, and education). Findings are discussed in relation to theory, research, policy, and practice.

Increasing access to rights for young people has highlighted the fact that little is known about their thinking and understanding of rights issues. However, expanding children’s access to rights without adequate knowledge of how they understand, experience and are able to use these rights, may be detrimental to their well-being. Thus far, research has explored conceptions of rights in several populations, including school aged children and young offenders, but little attention has been focused on maltreated children – a particularly vulnerable group. The purpose of the current study was to examine conceptions of and attitudes towards children’s nurturance and self-determination rights in 10-18-year-old children with histories of maltreatment who were living in state care. Associations between rights conceptions and attitudes, and factors related to the experience of maltreatment and child welfare care (e.g. type of maltreatment, type of foster care, time in care, and number of foster care placement changes), were explored. Rights concepts were assessed by having participants generate and discuss children’s rights issues arising in three contexts: home, school and the greater community, as well as through general knowledge questions. Attitudes were assessed using the Children’s ii iii Rights Attitudes questionnaire (Peterson-Badali, Morine, Ruck & Day, 2004), a 32 item likert-scale measure of children’s endorsement of various nurturance and self-determination rights. Results indicated that, while maltreated children’s conceptions of rights did frequently vary from previous findings with non-maltreated children, there were also a number of broad-based similarities. Interestingly, while maltreatment and child welfare care variables were largely unrelated to rights conceptions and attitudes, participants’ understanding did appear to be informed by the particular concerns that emerged from their unique circumstances (e.g., the fulfillment of basic needs such as food, clothing, and education). Findings are discussed in relation to theory, research, policy, and practice.

Newborns were once viewed as having the ability to distinguish between all possible speech contrasts present in the world’s languages. However, recent work suggests that this view is an oversimplification of young infants’ perceptual abilities. This study used the Stimulus Alternation Preference Procedure (SAPP) to examine 6- and 10- month-old infants’ ability to discriminate between voiced and voiceless stops (lexically contrastive in English) as well as voiced and pre-voiced stops (not lexically contrastive in English). Six-month-olds distinguished between voiced and voiceless stops, but not between voiced and pre-voiced stops. Ten-month-olds failed to discriminate either contrast. We tentatively conclude that 1) pre-voicing may be a subtle contrast requiring experience to perceive, and 2) the SAPP might not be an ideal method to examine discrimination abilities in 10-month-olds.

Newborns were once viewed as having the ability to distinguish between all possible speech contrasts present in the world’s languages. However, recent work suggests that this view is an oversimplification of young infants’ perceptual abilities. This study used the Stimulus Alternation Preference Procedure (SAPP) to examine 6- and 10- month-old infants’ ability to discriminate between voiced and voiceless stops (lexically contrastive in English) as well as voiced and pre-voiced stops (not lexically contrastive in English). Six-month-olds distinguished between voiced and voiceless stops, but not between voiced and pre-voiced stops. Ten-month-olds failed to discriminate either contrast. We tentatively conclude that 1) pre-voicing may be a subtle contrast requiring experience to perceive, and 2) the SAPP might not be an ideal method to examine discrimination abilities in 10-month-olds.

The transmission and internalization of values are the primary processes that occur during socialization. A recent approach integrates existing theories and research findings into a comprehensive model of socialization. According to the domains of socialization approach, there is no general principle governing socialization but rather it occurs in different domains of caregiver-child interactions. Grusec and Davidov (2010) outlined five socialization domains, which involve controlling children’s behaviour by external means (control domain), protecting children from harm and relieving their distress (protection domain), teaching children information or skills outside of the discipline or distress setting (guided-learning domain), managing children’s environment to increase desirable role models (group participation domain), and accommodating each other’s wishes (mutual reciprocity domain). Previous work demonstrated the utility of the domains of socialization approach for the study and understanding of value acquisition (Vinik, Johnston, Grusec, & Farrell, 2013). The present study expanded on this work by focusing on processes within the family. A modified narrative methodology was used to explore aspects of the value acquisition process. Autobiographical narratives of 294 emerging adults about a time they learned an important value from a caregiver were analyzed. The sample included participants from four ethnic backgrounds. Findings provided further support for the usefulness of the domains of socialization approach to the study of value development, as events recalled in narratives were categorized into all domains but reciprocity. Values learned in the control domain were most frequently reported but were associated with the lowest levels of internalization. The highest level of value internalization was found to occur in the group participation domain, drawing attention to the importance of observing the behaviour of others. Socialization domains were associated with particular types of lesson content. The guided learning and group participation domains were associated with more positive and less negative emotional valence compared to the other domains. In turn, absence of negative valence was significantly related to better confidence in accuracy of memory reported in narratives, indicative of quality of information processing and learning. Most effects were not moderated by demographic variables providing support to the universal applicability of the domains of socialization approach.

The goals of this study were 1) to examine the features of adolescents’ disclosure and advice-seeking behavior about peer dilemmas; and 2) to examine the maternal parenting predictors of disclosure and advice-seeking behavior and the adolescent social correlates of these behaviors. Further, this study sought to examine adolescent advice-seeking as a potential mediator of the relations between maternal parenting characteristics and adolescent social outcomes (friendship quality and interpersonal competence). One hundred and one mother-child dyads were assessed when the children were approximately 10-12 years of age (M = 11.0) and 74 were re-assessed when the children were approximately 12-14 years of age (M = 12.8). Mothers provided reports of their parenting characteristics at Time 1 and Time 2, while adolescents provided reports of their disclosure at Time 1, and disclosure, advice-seeking, personality and social outcomes at Time 2. Results showed the adolescents disclosed and sought advice from their mothers moderately often across a variety of situations involving their close friends. The reasons adolescents chose to disclose, not disclose, and seek advice were discussed. Regression analyses showed that neither mothers’ positive nor their negative parenting characteristics were predictors of adolescent disclosure. Mothers’ positive parenting characteristics (including perspective-taking, warmth and positive responsiveness to children’s negative emotions) did significantly predict adolescent advice-seeking, for girls but not boys, after controlling for adolescent personality and maternal interpersonal competence. With respect to adolescent social outcomes, adolescent advice-seeking was significantly related to friendship quality, but not interpersonal competence, after controlling for adolescent personality and disclosure. There was no evidence for the role of advice-seeking as a mediator of the relations between parenting and adolescent social outcomes. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the importance of determining the conditions that encourage adolescents to seek advice from their parents when they encounter difficult situations involving their friends, and the value parental advice has for adolescent social success.