Nancy R. Gee

Children Reading to Dogs: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Background Despite growing interest in the value of human-animal interactions (HAI) to human mental and physical health the quality of the evidence on which postulated benefits from animals to human psychological health are based is often unclear. To date there exist no systematic reviews on the effects of HAI in educational settings specifically focussing on the perceived benefits to children of reading to dogs. With rising popularity and implementation of these programmes in schools, it is essential that the evidence base exploring the pedagogic value of these initiatives is well documented. Methods Using PRISMA guidelines we systematically investigated the literature reporting the pedagogic effects of reading to dogs. Because research in this area is in the early stages of scientific enquiry we adopted broad inclusion criteria, accepting all reports which discussed measurable effects related to the topic that were written in English. Multiple online databases were searched during January-March 2015; grey literature searches were also conducted. The search results which met the inclusion criteria were evaluated, and discussed, in relation to the Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine levels of evidence; 27 papers were classified as Level 5, 13 as Level 4, 7 as Level 2c and 1 as Level 2b. Conclusion The evidence suggests that reading to a dog may have a beneficial effect on a number of behavioural processes which contribute to a positive effect on the environment in which reading is practiced, leading to improved reading performance. However, the evidence base on which these inferences are made is of low quality. There is a clear need for the use of higher quality research methodologies and the inclusion of appropriate controls in order to draw causal inferences on whether or how reading to dogs may benefit children’s reading practices. The mechanisms for any effect remain a matter of conjecture.

Animal-assisted interventions in the classroom: a systematic review

The inclusion of animals in educational practice is becoming increasingly popular, but it is unclear how solid the evidence for this type of intervention is. The aim of this systematic review is to scrutinise the empirical research literature relating to animal-assisted interventions conducted in educational settings. The review included 25 papers; 21 from peer-reviewed journals and 4 obtained using grey literature databases. Most studies reported significant benefits of animal-assisted interventions in the school setting. Despite this, studies vary greatly in methods and design, in intervention types, measures, and sample sizes, and in the length of time exposed to an animal. Furthermore, a worrying lack of reference to risk assessment and animal welfare must be highlighted. Taken together, the results of this review show promising findings and emerging evidence suggestive of potential benefits related to animals in school settings. The review also indicates the need for a larger and more robust evidence base driven by thorough and strict protocols. The review further emphasises the need for safeguarding for all involved—welfare and safety are paramount.

Current challenges to research on animal-assisted interventions

ABSTRACT Studies of the effects of Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAIs) face a number of theoretical and practical challenges. Proposed theoretical processes for the effects of AAIs include those that address primarily the animal’s ability to facilitate human–human social engagement, those that emphasize animals’ apparent capacity to trigger social attachments and provide nonhuman social support, those that categorize certain animals as supernormal stimuli, those that advance a biophilia hypothesis that living organisms have an innate ability to attract and hold human attention, and those that promote an integrative biopsychosocial model. Each of these generates potentially testable hypotheses, and the field would benefit from systematic efforts to address their validity. Practical challenges to AAI research include issues of study design and methodology, the heterogeneity of both AAI recipients and the animals participating in these interventions, the welfare of these animals, and the unusual pressure from the public and media to report and publish positive findings. Such challenges need to be carefully considered in designing and implementing future studies in the field.

The social neuroscience of human-animal interaction.

Humans are a fundamentally social species, preferring to live in dyads, families, groups, communities, and cultures (Cacioppo & Ortigue, 2011). As a species, we have a wonderful capacity to develop and engage in social interactions, both with other humans and with members of other species, most obviously companion animals such as dogs and cats. In fact, the latest figures indicate that 68% of U.S. households (American Pet Products Association, 2014; American Veterinary Medicine Association, 2007) and 46% of British households (Pet Food Manufacturers Association, 2014) include at least one companion animal. Pet ownership has also been shown to facilitate “social capital” in that the presence of pets tends to facilitate social contact and a sense of community (Wood, Giles-Corti, & Bulsara, 2005; Wood et al., 2015).

Great expectations: changing social, spatial and emotional understandings of the companion animal–human relationship

Abstract This paper examines the changing social, legal, spatial and emotional understandings of the companion animal–human relationship in Britain during the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, based upon in-depth interviews with pet owners and professionals involved in the pet industry. This period has seen rapid change in attitudes and practices towards companion animals, bringing benefits for both animal health and welfare, but also increasing social, emotional and financial expectations. Animals have become increasingly integrated into the human home and family, whilst simultaneously subject to increasing control of their behaviour and movements in public space. Such changes have brought a culture of ‘responsible’ pet ownership in which both animals and humans are subject to constant surveillance of their own and others pet-keeping practices. Such expectations are constantly changing and contested, with notions of human identity and status increasingly defined through human–animal relationships. These processes are ongoing and new forms of responsibility are continually evolving, providing new means for caretakers to express their love and care for their animal companions.

Changing Conceptions of Care: Humanization of the Companion Animal–Human Relationship

This paper explores the changing nature of companion animal-human relationships in Britain over the past 30 years. This period has seen rapid change in attitudes and practices towards companion animals, with notable advances in medical treatment, nutrition, and understanding of non-human animal behavior, as well as re-evaluations of the position of animals within the home. Based upon in-depth interviews with companion animal caretakers and professionals involved in the companion animal industry, we examined these changes in the United Kingdom. Major themes were identified: Humanization, Commercialization, Medicalization, Responsible Companionship, and Alternative Companionship. These changes have had largely positive effects on companion animal health and welfare, but also bring new expectations of the companion relationship, which humans and nonhuman animals may be unable or unwilling to fulfill. While dominant discourses of responsible companionship prevail, the process of change is ongoing and reflects emerging trends in human society towards diversification and alternative lifestyles.

Measuring Cortisol in the Classroom with School-Aged Children—A Systematic Review and Recommendations

The collection of salivary cortisol has been chosen as one of the least intrusive, easiest to collect, analyze, and store methods of obtaining information on physiological changes. It is, however, not clear what the best practice is when collecting salivary cortisol from children within the school setting. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the feasibility of cortisol collection in schools for future research and to make recommendations for best practice. The review included 25 peer-reviewed articles from seven databases. The hypotheses of the included studies vary, but they all use cortisol as a diurnal, baseline, or acute measure, or to measure the effect of an intervention. Two methods of salivary cortisol collection were preferred by most of the research, i.e., passive drool or cotton Salivettes. The review has concluded that cortisol is a physiological marker that can be successfully measured in school-based research. However, there are discrepancies across studies when evaluating the collection guidelines, protocols, and instructions to participants as well as transparency of the success rate of obtaining all samples. Recommendations are made for future research to address and avoid such discrepancies and improve cross-study comparisons by implementing standard protocol guidelines.

Attachment security in companion dogs: adaptation of Ainsworth’s strange situation and classification procedures to dogs and their human caregivers

ABSTRACT This exploratory study describes the development of a classification system for dogs’ attachment security to caregivers that adheres closely to Ainsworth’s seminal methodology. Fifty-nine adult dogs and caregivers participated in a mildly threatening laboratory encounter with a stranger (TS) and the Strange Situation (SSP). Dog and attachment experts adapted Ainsworth’s classification system for the behavioral repertoire of the dog. Four potentially comparable patterns of attachment were identified. The proportions of secure and insecure classifications (61% and 39%) were similar to those found in human toddlers. Caregivers’ sensitivity to their dogs during the TS procedure significantly differentiated dogs with secure vs. insecure classifications Lower scores on the Active/excited personality scale on the Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire-Revised (MCPQ-R) also were related to secure classification. This system now makes it possible to compare directly the effects of human and dog attachment patterns on the health and emotional well-being of humans and dogs.

Effects of Human-Animal Interaction on Dog Salivary and Plasma Oxytocin and Vasopressin

Oxytocin (OT) and Vasopressin (AVP) are neuropeptides with diverse effects on social behavior, cognition and stress responses. Recent studies suggest that OT facilitates and responds to affiliative forms of human-animal interaction (HAI). However, previous studies measuring OT and AVP in dogs have been limited to measures from blood or urine, which present concerns related to the invasiveness of sample collection, the potential for matrix interference in immunoassays, and whether samples can be collected at precise time points to assess event-linked endocrine responses. Previous studies from our laboratory validated salivary measures of OT and AVP in dogs, however, it is currently unknown whether these measures respond dynamically to aspects of HAI. Here, we investigated the effects of affiliative forms of HAI on both plasma and salivary OT and AVP in dogs. We employed a between-subjects design with a group of Labrador retrievers and Labrador retriever X golden retriever crosses (23 females, 15 males). Half of the dogs engaged in 10 minutes of free-form friendly interaction with a human experimenter (HAI condition), and the other half rested quietly in the same environment, without human interaction (control condition). We collected blood and saliva samples before, and immediately following both experimental conditions, and all samples were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) following previously validated protocols. Dogs participating in HAI exhibited a significant increase in both salivary OT (+39%) and plasma OT (+5.7%) whereas dogs in the control group did not. Salivary AVP showed no change in the HAI group but increased significantly (+33%) in the control group. Plasma AVP decreased significantly following HAI (-13%) but did not change across time in the control condition. Within the dogs exposed to HAI, increases in salivary OT, and decreases in plasma AVP, were predicted by the extent of affiliative behaviour between the dog and human (indexed by scores from a principal components analysis of social behaviours between the dog and human). Collectively our results suggest that measures of salivary OT and AVP provide useful biomarkers in studies of HAI, and afford a flexible and noninvasive toolkit than can be employed in diverse research contexts.

Human–Animal Interaction Research in School Settings: Current Knowledge and Future Directions:

The involvement of animals is almost commonplace in many schools, although actual data documenting the extent and nature of human–animal interaction (HAI) in these settings are sparse. We provide an overview of the existing research and argue that the inclusion of animals in classroom settings can have an indirect effect on learning by directly affecting motivation, engagement, self-regulation, and human social interaction through those activities in which the interaction with animals is embedded. We support this theory with examples from the growing body of work indicating that, under specific conditions, with proper safeguards, HAI activities can benefit both typically developing children and those with developmental disabilities by reducing stress and anxiety and improving social interactions and by enhancing motivation, engagement, and learning. Nonetheless, a more comprehensive evidence base is needed to support this theory and to inform policies and practices for HAI in education settings, activities, and interventions.