WHY KIDS LIE by Paul Eckman, Ph.D. <i> (Charles Scribner’s Sons: $17.95; 206 pp.) </i>

Children fabricate answers to discomfiting questions for the same reasons adults do: to avoid punishment, to acquire something they will otherwise be denied, to avoid confrontation, to cover shameful secrets. Everyone tells lies, even if it is only to thank someone for a disappointing present.

In “Why Kids Lie,” psychologist Paul Ekman asserts that children who develop the habit of lying are likely to get into more serious trouble eventually. He emphasizes that the ubiquitousness of lying makes it imperative that parents discuss with children what lying means, so they will not get into the habit of the “easy out.” He also describes some of the ways in which parents unwittingly teach their children to lie through the adult exchanges that take place in the childrens’ presence.

The book offers a rough guide to what is “normal” development in the ability and tendency to lie, and what special circumstances--divorce, for instance--often cause children to begin lying suddenly. A final chapter, titled “Kids’ Testimony in Court,” concerns the delicate area of child abuse.