What is the Human-Animal Bond?

Transcription

1 Nancy R. Gee, PhD Professor of Psychology State University of New York, Fredonia HAI Research Manager WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition Human Animal Bond Advisory Board Member Pet Partners What is the Human-Animal Bond? a mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship between people and other animals that is influenced by behaviors that are essential to the health and well-being of both Definition of the Human-Companion Animal Bond (HCAB) taken from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)

2 An enduring and important relationship 10,000 years ago UK EU US CA 7.5 M cats 8.5 M dogs 60+ M cats 66+ M dogs 2/3 of all homes include a pet 7 M cats 6.4 M dogs Pompeii Mosaic 79 AD General Health Benefits Over the past 40 years many studies have reported health benefits from pet ownership Following acquisition of a pet, owners reported: Fewer minor health complaints (e.g. headaches) Improvements in self-reported psychological well being Benefits were sustained over time for dog owners Dog owners increased recreational walking Pet owners compared to non-pet owners: Have lower blood pressure, plasma triglycerides and cholesterol Are more likely to be alive one year after a heart-attack (dog owners) 2

3 Children who have pets Sick days from school Allergies & asthma Obese 5 & 6 year olds Self esteem Empathy Popularity with classmates Involvement in hobbies, clubs, & chores But Evidence base is weak to mixed: Correlational Lack of control conditions Poorly designed studies/surveys Hard to assign pet ownership My research with preschoolers Empirical designs Random Assignment to conditions Presentation of stimuli Counterbalancing Repeated measures Reduces error variance Multiple data points per subject Small sample sizes Medium to large effect sizes Task Execution of Motor-skills Following Instructions Motor-skills Object Recognition Exp 1 Object Recognition Exp 2 Memory Obect Recognition Categorization Match-to-Sample Match-to-Category Language Production Story Telling Dog Condition relative to No Dog or Stuffed Dog Faster with no loss of accuracy Higher Adherence Instructions Fewer prompts needed Fewer prompts needed Faster and more accurate Fewer irrelevant choices Larger Animation Effect Greater word production 3

4 Ongoing studies investigating the impact of animals in education Examines the impact of pet ownership on education related variables in children Examines the impact of interacting with dogs on empathy, self-esteem, stress & anxiety, and cognitive & language variables in children Examines the impact of dogs on academic stress exposure and resulting academic performance of university students Why Study Animals in Education? Practice is widespread: Survey of 1,400 teachers in accredited programs 67% animals in classroom Uttley (2013) State of the art Provides a way to help students deepen their knowledge, pique their interests, and serve as a motivational influence Hummel & Randler (2012) Animal welfare concerns need to be addressed Gap in the literature: Very little work on efficacy of such practices 4

5 Connection to Theories of Early Childhood Education Dewey: espoused the importance of allowing children s interests to form the basis of curriculum planning Montesorri: children take and learn responsibility by direct interaction with their environment Erikson: examined the impact of culture and society on development Piaget: children construct their own knowledge by interacting with their environment Vygotsky: children learn by doing and talking about their experiences (language production) and develop aspects of cognition (executive function) as part of these experiences Mooney (2013) Published February 2017 Current state of the research Resource for: Educators Researchers Volunteers Recommendations for: Research Design Best Practice Animal Welfare Discussion of legal issues 5

6 What do we know about reading to dogs programs? Literature Searched PubMed (1946-present) Science Direct (1946-present) American Doctoral Dissertations ( ) Canadian Reference Centre (1901-present Education Source (1900- present) ERIC (1966-present) Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition (1952-present) Masterfile Premier (1921-present) PsychArticles (1894-present) PsychInfo (1987-present) Psychology & Behavioural Sciences Collection (1930-present) Social Sciences Full Text (1972-present) Google Scholar (1946-present) 6

7 7

8 OCEBM Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine Level 5 Expert opinion without critical appraisal, or based on physiology, bench research. Strength of Evidence Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Case series, and poor quality cohort and case control studies b Individual case-control study a systematic review of case-control studies c outcomes research, ecological studies b individual cohort studies, including low quality RCTs a systematic review of cohort studies Level 1 c all or none case series b individual RCTs with narrow confidence interval a systematic review of RCTs 48 studies met the search criteria Level 5 Expert opinion without critical appraisal, or based on physiology, bench research. 27 studies - most were ad hoc reports as evidenced by teachers or dog handlers. Strength of Evidence Level 4 Level 2c Case series, and poor quality cohort and case control studies 13 studies - most followed the progress of a small group of children, but did not use standardized measures or did not include a control group. Outcomes research 7 studies most used a standard or objective approach to measure effects, but did not report effect sizes and/or inferential statistics Level 2b Individual cohort studies, including low quality randomized control trials. 1 study used random assignment to conditions and a standardized measure of reading ability 8

9 Summary 48 studies met search criteria all reported positive effects of children reading to dogs In particular studies reported behavioral improvements that may improve the environment in which reading is practiced. Quality of evidence is low Majority of studies categorized as OCEBM level 5 (lowest level) Most based on ad hoc reports not subject to peer review, small sample sizes and failed to use blind scoring or consider long term effects. Study with best OCEBM rating 9

10 Students - identified as poor readers rd graders age 7-13 (M = 8.2) 27 read to a dog (volunteer present) 24 read to an adult 26 read to a teddy bear (adult present) 10 week program (20 min per week) 9 dogs: Golden Retriever (4), Boxer, King Charles Cavalier, Jack Russell cross, Maltese & Weimaraner Data were collected: Before program Upon program completion 8-week follow up Standardized measure: Neale Analysis of Reading Ability Results Groups were not significantly different before the start of program. The 10-week program did result in significant differences: 10

11 7.8 Group Differences Reading Accuracy Results Dog Adult Teddy Bear Reading Accuracy Interaction 11

12 Reading Rate Interaction Reading Comprehension 12

13 Reading Comprehension Over Time Conclusions from the study? Reading to dogs was beneficial for reading rate, accuracy and comprehension. BUT Applies to poor readers in 3 rd grade. Seems to be more effective for boys in that group than girls. Children in the dog group received more free books than kids in the other condition that may have provided additional motivation beyond the presence of the dog. 13

14 Conclusions from the literature review Dogs may improve wider learning environment for children Increasing positive attitudes (evidence by smiling and laughing) during reading practice Improvement in attitude/motivation/engagement Improve confidence (self-esteem and self-concept) Provide social support and companionship Decreasing displays of problematic behaviors Decreasing anxiety (calming effect) How does this work? 14

15 Cautions Quality of most of the evidence in this area is low (level 5). Pets are not a panacea. More research is needed! Please volunteer for these research projects! Despite criticisms of existing research we do know some things 15

16 Reading to dogs Has the potential to bring significant improvements to children s reading abilities must be investigated further. Programs involving volunteers are approximately 74% less expensive. Considering the global cost of illiteracy (est $1.2 trillion in 2015) Reading to dogs programs represent a unique, cost effective strategy that can be broadly implemented. Frequently asked Questions: How do I get involved in research on this topic? Contact an HAI researcher! Google it? Is anyone in your area doing research on this topic? Answer the call when a request is made for a Pet Partners team do what you do best! I m not aware of an existing list of researchers working on the topic, and if there were it would need to be updated frequently. Researchers are aware of Pet Partners and frequently seek our volunteers for their projects via direct requests. 16

17 Does the animal handler need to have expertise in reading instruction? No, it appears that the benefit comes from the practice and motivation associated with the experience, which is separate from the formal instruction students receive in the classroom. Formal instruction is critical, but let s leave that to classroom teachers. It s possible that the non-judgmental nature of these settings (not evaluating or correcting mistakes) is one of the key elements of success. How does the dogs behavior impact the success of the program? Assuming the dog s behavior is meeting Pet Partners standards. This is likely to be situation/individual specific. Some children want the dog to appear to listen and other kids don t mind if the dog sleeps. Whether it makes a difference in terms of reading outcomes is currently unknown. There are things you can train your dog to do: I trained my dog to watch the book treat when page is turned. Problem dog may drool. 17

18 How can I help get a Read with Me program started, where it does not already exist? STEP 1 - Step 2 Have the Discussion Approach Approach a school/library teacher/administrator, but go prepared! Bring Bring a copy of the lit review paper and/or the book I mentioned along with your Pet Partners guidelines. Don t try to sell it provide information Be realistic don t over-state what you can deliver 18

19 Step 3 Do your due-diligence Check that you have approval to begin visits and make sure that this approval has been given by the appropriate source. If your contact is a teacher make sure that the school principal is also onboard. Be sure that you have a contact person who will serve as your visit supervisor, and that person has been authorized to perform that duty. Are parents in the loop? Work with your supervisor to prepare a note to send home to parents to describe the upcoming interactions. Include a picture of your dog and describe some essentials in the note (setting, reason for visits, how children can opt out) including some basic suggestions for preparing children for the upcoming visits. Consider developing a parental consent form and respect that some parents will say no that s okay, this isn t a requirement If dogs could read 19

20 YAYABA You Are Your Animal s Best Advocate Please read the Pet Partners Read with Me manual very carefully! Know the signs of stress Know your animal & watch them carefully! 20

21 Children are not good at recognizing dog signals! Two final thoughts Listen to your gut When you are starting to feel a little uncomfortable about the situation find a way to extricate yourself and your animal. Pay attention to your animal after a visit Are there any lingering stress signs? (e.g., diarrhea) 21

22 THANK YOU Any questions? 22