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Effect of the presence of a dog on pre-adolescent children's learning of canine anatomy and physiology

Effect of the presence of a dog on pre-adolescent children's learning of canine anatomy and physiology
Effect of the presence of a dog on pre-adolescent children's learning of canine anatomy and physiology
INTRODUCTION Children are interested in animals and this focus may increase attention for and, thus, retention of related information. The research hypothesis was that a dog in the classroom would aid learning of given knowledge about canine anatomy and physiology in pre-adolescent children.
METHODOLOGY A class of fifteen 8 year old children in Pisa (Italy) was randomly divided in 2 groups: A (5 girls and 2 boys) and B (6 girls and 2 boys). Each group attended 6 lessons matched for topic (with audio-visual aids) and teacher. For every lecture, one group attended in the presence of a 2 year old female dog and the other without the animal; condition was reversed for the following lesson. Therefore, both groups attended 3 lectures with the dog and 3 lectures without. At the end of each lesson, children filled out a 10-item questionnaire on the lesson topic; these were completed again 3 months later. Numbers of correct answers for the dog or no-dog condition by lesson were compared using Chi-square test (p<0.05).
RESULTS Results showed that children performed significantly better when the dog was present. This was true for all lectures except the first: 2nd (?2=5.293; p=0.007), 3rd (?2=7.904; p=0.000), 4th (?2=5.029; p=0.025), 5th (?2=4.373; p=0.008) and 6th (?2=5.167; p=0.023) lesson. At the follow-up, a decline in knowledge retention was observed in both conditions, but more evident in the dog-present (mean±standard deviation: 7.89±0.27 to 5.59±0.29) than in the no-dog condition (6.18±0.90 to 5.83±0.54). No differences persisted between the two conditions.
CONCLUSIONS The presence of a dog in the classroom seems to increase children’s short-term learning of a related topic. This may be due to the dog acting as a focus for attention for related information. However, findings suggest this increased attentiveness in the dog’s presence does not influence long-term retention.
dog, children, anatomy, physiology, learning, animal assisted activities
42
Gazzano, A.
516c5070-9121-41f7-b06c-f7a0ce2a7f03
Mariti, C.
9e7dadfc-277b-426c-b4bd-0c99a4d0d08e
Cozzi, A.
fb0147b2-f29d-4850-86c9-47440509c893
Papi, F.
cbbc57bd-8b51-4e81-9885-50b92e32755f
Sighieri, C.
ea6dd110-b2ed-4ec0-9d83-0d275a60f385
McBride, E.A.
8f13b829-a141-4b67-b2d7-08f839972646
Gazzano, A.
516c5070-9121-41f7-b06c-f7a0ce2a7f03
Mariti, C.
9e7dadfc-277b-426c-b4bd-0c99a4d0d08e
Cozzi, A.
fb0147b2-f29d-4850-86c9-47440509c893
Papi, F.
cbbc57bd-8b51-4e81-9885-50b92e32755f
Sighieri, C.
ea6dd110-b2ed-4ec0-9d83-0d275a60f385
McBride, E.A.
8f13b829-a141-4b67-b2d7-08f839972646

Gazzano, A., Mariti, C., Cozzi, A., Papi, F., Sighieri, C. and McBride, E.A. (2007) Effect of the presence of a dog on pre-adolescent children's learning of canine anatomy and physiology. 16th Annual meeting of the International Society for Anthrozoology "The Power of Animals: Approaches to Identifying New Roles for Animals in Society", Tokyo, Japan. 04 - 05 Oct 2007. p. 42 .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Poster)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Children are interested in animals and this focus may increase attention for and, thus, retention of related information. The research hypothesis was that a dog in the classroom would aid learning of given knowledge about canine anatomy and physiology in pre-adolescent children.
METHODOLOGY A class of fifteen 8 year old children in Pisa (Italy) was randomly divided in 2 groups: A (5 girls and 2 boys) and B (6 girls and 2 boys). Each group attended 6 lessons matched for topic (with audio-visual aids) and teacher. For every lecture, one group attended in the presence of a 2 year old female dog and the other without the animal; condition was reversed for the following lesson. Therefore, both groups attended 3 lectures with the dog and 3 lectures without. At the end of each lesson, children filled out a 10-item questionnaire on the lesson topic; these were completed again 3 months later. Numbers of correct answers for the dog or no-dog condition by lesson were compared using Chi-square test (p<0.05).
RESULTS Results showed that children performed significantly better when the dog was present. This was true for all lectures except the first: 2nd (?2=5.293; p=0.007), 3rd (?2=7.904; p=0.000), 4th (?2=5.029; p=0.025), 5th (?2=4.373; p=0.008) and 6th (?2=5.167; p=0.023) lesson. At the follow-up, a decline in knowledge retention was observed in both conditions, but more evident in the dog-present (mean±standard deviation: 7.89±0.27 to 5.59±0.29) than in the no-dog condition (6.18±0.90 to 5.83±0.54). No differences persisted between the two conditions.
CONCLUSIONS The presence of a dog in the classroom seems to increase children’s short-term learning of a related topic. This may be due to the dog acting as a focus for attention for related information. However, findings suggest this increased attentiveness in the dog’s presence does not influence long-term retention.

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More information

Published date: 1 October 2007
Venue - Dates: 16th Annual meeting of the International Society for Anthrozoology "The Power of Animals: Approaches to Identifying New Roles for Animals in Society", Tokyo, Japan, 2007-10-04 - 2007-10-05
Keywords: dog, children, anatomy, physiology, learning, animal assisted activities

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Local EPrints ID: 55014
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/55014
PURE UUID: 3aaf63e5-9a25-471e-a6ee-69fa4dcfd5fd

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Date deposited: 30 Jul 2008
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 10:51

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Contributors

Author: A. Gazzano
Author: C. Mariti
Author: A. Cozzi
Author: F. Papi
Author: C. Sighieri
Author: E.A. McBride

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