Syrnyk Corinne, McArthur Alisa, Zwack Alyson, Handelsman Allison
Psychology, St Mary's University, Calgary, Canada.
Calgary, Canada.
Early Child Educ J. 2022 Oct 21:1-15. doi: 10.1007/s10643-022-01392-5.
Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) have been found to benefit human emotional state and cognitive performance. Recent applications of AAI have extended to classrooms with a range of intentions including to improve literacy. This Canadian study sought to examine differences in reading performance and behaviour in early readers identified as requiring extra supports following exposure to a canine-assisted and adult-assisted reading support. Twenty-four 7- to 8-year-olds experienced both supports in random order. At the start of the study and after completion of either support learners' oral reading, reading comprehension, social functioning, and reading affect were assessed. Parents, teachers, and children were also asked a range of closed- and open-ended questions. Findings showed evidence of improvement in reading performance, particularly after reading to a dog. There was also evidence of improved social competence overall and decreased problematic behaviour, although this was dependent on order of exposure. Teacher and parent reports showed they believed both supports to improve learner skills and affect for reading, and that teachers made more distinctions here. Implications for the practical application and relevance of methodological detail for future work are discussed.
动物辅助干预（AAI）已被发现有益于人类的情绪状态和认知表现。AAI最近的应用已扩展到教室，目的多种多样，包括提高读写能力。这项加拿大研究旨在调查在接受犬类辅助阅读支持和成人辅助阅读支持后，被确定需要额外支持的早期阅读者在阅读表现和行为方面的差异。24名7至8岁的儿童以随机顺序体验了这两种支持。在研究开始时以及在任何一种支持结束后，对学习者的口头阅读、阅读理解、社交功能和阅读情感进行了评估。还向家长、教师和儿童提出了一系列封闭式和开放式问题。研究结果显示出阅读表现有所改善的证据，尤其是在给狗读书之后。也有证据表明整体社交能力有所提高，问题行为有所减少，不过这取决于接触的顺序。教师和家长的报告显示，他们认为这两种支持都能提高学习者的技能和对阅读的喜爱程度，而且教师在这方面的区分更多。文中讨论了对未来工作的实际应用和方法细节相关性的启示。
