'NurtureShock' by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman

Several studies, for example, demonstrate that the more children are threatened with punishment, the more they lie and the better they get at it. In one, kids who attend a traditional colonial school in western Africa, where teachers frequently slap children for misdeeds, were especially likely to lie progressively more in order to avoid the consequences.

The above, from today's New York Times review of  a new book by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman about current child rearing practices and...