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Abstract
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A scientific understanding of lying is obtained neither by regarding mind as static nor by viewing it as the sum total of a series of stimulus-response connections. Human behavior must be thought of as an outgrowth of social situations and must always have reference to meanings. Social interaction may be said to consist in the introjection and projection of meanings. Judged by the completeness of the circuit of interaction, lies may be classified into misrepresentations, prevarications, and deceptions. Misrepresentations may be attributed to the misapprehension of the real. This, in children, is conditioned upon the integrated nature of the real impinging on them before they are ready to apprehend it. Prevarication is a form of lying based on the confusion of fact and fancy. Deception as a form of lying may be defined as the conscious substitution of the fancied for the real. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)
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