Human-animal Interaction, Learning
Conditions
Brief summary
In a randomised controlled cross-over study, the influence of interacting with a dog on children's learning performance is investigated.
Interventions
OTHERHuman-dog interaction
The tests are completed in the presence of a dog. Further, before starting the tests, the children have 15 minutes to interact with the present dog.
OTHERStuffed toy dog
The tests are completed in the presence of a stuffed toy dog. Further, before starting the tests, the children have 15 minutes to play with the stuffed toy dog.
Sponsors
University of Basel
Swiss Tropical & Public Health Institute
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
7 Years to 14 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* healthy * 7 - 14 years old * willingness to participate
Exclusion criteria
* medical or psychiatric diagnosis * medication * allergia (dogs) * phobia (dogs)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| VLMT (Verbaler Lern- und Merkfähigkeitstest) | 20 Minutes | Number of remembered items within the test |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Digit Span (from HAWIK-IV) | 5 Minutes | Number of remembered items (auditively presented numbers) |
| motoric task (from Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, dt. Version (K-ABC)) | 5 Minutes | Number of remembered items (visually presented gestures) that can be reproduced. |
| Heart rate/heart rate variability | 60 Minutes | — |
Countries
Germany
Outcome results
None listed