Resumo
The present work is presented in the form of a scientific article, of conceptual theoretical nature. Section I introduces the subject of lying; section II seeks a behavioral definition of lying; section III adresses verbal correspondence, widely used in studies about lying in behavior analysis; section IV addresses the context in which lying is seen as beneficial for the society or group, such as through pro-social lying. Finally, section V outlines a proposed experiment for the study of lying behavior in a cultural group context using the concepts of ethical self-control and metacontingencies. We conclude that the present work offers relevant theoretical innovations for the instrumentalization of behavior analysts for the study of lies and lying.