HABRI Central

In This Series

1. Effect of Animal-Assisted Play Therapy on facilitating social behavior for children with autism: a preliminary comparison study

   

   Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Suk Chun Fung

   Despite evidence that Animal-Assisted Play Therapy increases the positive social behavior of children with autism, little is known about the mechanism of this treatment effect. In the present study, ten children with autism, aged 7-10, were randomized into two groups. One group attended 14...

2. Empathy and donation behavior toward happy and sad chimpanzees

   

   Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Nils-Torge Telle, Hans-Radiger Pfister

   Past research indicates a moderate but robust relationship between human empathy and empathy toward animals. Further, it has been shown that human empathy is associated with more positive attitudes toward animals. What has not been researched, however, is human- and animal-directed empathy in...

3. Can dogs increase children's attention and concentration performance? A randomised controlled trial

   

   Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Karin Hediger, Dennis C Turner

   Many practitioners report that the presence of an animal, or interaction with an animal, increases the attention and concentration of children, elderly persons or patients. Previous studies support this impression via indirect variables, but direct effects on children's attention...

4. An investigation into the efficacy of therapy dogs on reading performance in 6-7 year old children

   

   Journal Articles | Contributor(s): Rainer Wohlfarth, Bettina Mutschler, Andrea Beetz, Karin Schleider

   There is scientific evidence that the presence of a therapy dog can positively impact on the performance of cognitive tasks (e.g. Gee et al., 2010). The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a therapy dog on reading performance. Twelve children in second grade, aged 6 to 7 years old,...

5. Special Book Review: Literature and the Art of Being Human"Unsaid" a novel by Neil Abramson (2012)

   

   Journal Articles | Contributor(s): A. Matamonasa-Bennett

   In this journal's book review column, I have mostly reviewed recent scholarly books pertaining to the human-animal bond and the research and practice of animal assisted therapies. This review, however, represents a special departure from those types of books, focusing on the power of...