Using rules to improve the honest reports of children in environments with conflicting reinforcement contingencies

Despite caregiver reports that lying is a common concern with children of typical development, there is little research that informs strategies to improve honesty. Previous research has demonstrated that the honest reports of children are sensitive to rules and contingencies, but we know little about the interaction between these variables. We evaluated the influence of rules framed as honesty produces reinforcers when reinforcement favors lying. We observed children of typical development during a homework completion task in which they completed a math worksheet and reported their answers. Baseline included reinforcement for reports of correct answers, even if the answer was incorrect. In the rule condition, we systematically replicated previous research by reading a story that included a moral (i.e., rule) framed as honesty produced reinforcers. To date, the rule has produced mixed results across participants, but in all cases, reinforcing honesty was required to produce consistent results