In a number of instances where one notices that a person is lying and he/she would have to be mentally deficient not to know that they are lying - what is going on? One sees similar behavior with children. They will deny what they have just done - like eat chocolate. Seems like a similar pattern. And the question again arises what is going on? The dominant model so far has been that "lying" is happening and the person needs to be corrected, shown the light, punished, ....
However, this accepted model assumes that there is clear logical cognition going on and there is deliberate misstatement of the fact.
Another way to think about what is going on is that a person is maintaining a certain "state of being" in their neurochemistry. Facts and truth are irrelevant. The neurochemistry will process the situation and state whatever would maintain that state of being. Issues of truth or falsity are not relevant to that neurochemistry.
In the situation with a child denying having eaten chocolate with chocolate on their face, the child may see the response on the questioners face or the expected response and then generate the statement that would keep them "safe" / "right" with the questioner.
The question then arises, what percentage of lying incidents are deliberate misstatements and what are neurochemical set point maintenance strategies?
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