What do the kids think?
This study interviewed children from a higher SES school (Coleman) and lower SES school (Neely) and asked children which cheating situations were acceptable. The results showed students from lower SES schools tend to think cheating is more acceptable. (Puett,2009)
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The comparison of boys and girls in tendency to cheat has yielded many different results. Some studies suggest boys are more likely to cheat and some report no gender difference. However, students with low confidence and lower IQ are more likely to cheat. (Bergin & Bergin, 2012, p.357)
What does everyone else think?
- Older kids tend to view cheating as necessary to succeed.
- Parents are embarrassed or deny when their kid is caught cheating.
- Joe DiPrisco (Right from Wrong: Instilling a sense of Integrity in your Child) encourages parents to take the child's plagiarism as an opportunity to explain why it is wrong and why it can't happen again. It is important to let them know that everyone makes mistakes, though.
- Teachers understand that cheating prevents students from learning skills that are necessary to succeed such as writing skills and math.
(Molland, 2012)
Can cheating be accidental?
Cryptomnesia is the accidental plagiarism that occurs when the brain cannot monitor the source of all the ideas it is thinking.
Basically, cryptomnesia occurs when someone unintentionally uses an idea from another source, mistaking it for an original thought. In fact, it can be a very important skill, especially in young children. Young children are using crymtomnesia when they internalize social norms.
The occurrence of cryptomnesia increases when the source is more credible, when there is a limited time to respond, when the question and response were more complex, and when perceptual cues are not present.
"Nothing we design is ever truly novel--every creative effort contains vestiges of what we have experienced in the past." Richard L. Marsh
(Carpenter, 2002)
Basically, cryptomnesia occurs when someone unintentionally uses an idea from another source, mistaking it for an original thought. In fact, it can be a very important skill, especially in young children. Young children are using crymtomnesia when they internalize social norms.
The occurrence of cryptomnesia increases when the source is more credible, when there is a limited time to respond, when the question and response were more complex, and when perceptual cues are not present.
"Nothing we design is ever truly novel--every creative effort contains vestiges of what we have experienced in the past." Richard L. Marsh
(Carpenter, 2002)
Something else to consider...
Students who cheat are students who CARE about what grade they receive. Is apathy better? Teachers must encourage students to work hard to achieve high grades without indirectly encouraging cheating as the answer to students desperate to succeed.