Academic cheating interferes with learning among middle school children

•The consequence of cheating on learning was investigated among middle school children.•Children self-scored their own math test, and 54% cheated by marking one or more errors as correct.•Children were given the same test again later, this time without the self-scoring.•When children cheated, they were more likely get the same questions wrong again on their second try.•The results provide the first experimental evidence that cheating can interfere with children’s learning. There has been extensive research on the causes of academic cheating, but little is known about its consequences. The current research sought to fill this gap in the literature by examining how cheating by middle school children (total N = 198) affects their learning outcomes. In a naturalistic paradigm, children scored a math test they had taken previously, which gave them an opportunity to cheat by falsely scoring incorrect answers to be correct. Results from this phase showed that 54 % of the children cheated on at least one question. One week later, the children took the same test again, but this time without being given an opportunity to cheat. Among children who cheated, items they had answered incorrectly on the first round showed significantly less improvement on the second round if they had dishonestly scored them as correct rather than honestly scoring them as incorrect. This finding provides the first experimental evidence that academic cheating can interfere with children’s learning.