Running head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1

Annotated Bibliography

Hannah Hoagland

EDEC 460

Sonoma State University

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Intro:

The research question my partner and I are answering is what are the benefits of animals

on the social behavior of children on the Autism Spectrum (ASD). We wanted to know if

animals in the classroom could have a positive social effect on children with Autism which in

turn would have a positive effect on their learning within the classroom. This research is

important because children with autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, have substantial social, communicational, and behavioral challenges that can get in

the way of the learning process and since Autism Spectrum Disorder has been increasing over

the years, it is important for teachers to know various ways these children learn and the things

that help them learn best. Autism Speaks (2014) suggests research showing that those who had

autism and a family pet at a young age have better social skills and some research also shows

that even with temporary interactions with animals also temporarily improve social behavior in

children with autism. Research in this field uncovers much of what we dont know about ASD so

this type of research is important to better understand and treat this disability.

A theory that pertains to the social effect of animals on children with Autism is Erik

Ericksons psychosocial stages of development in which each stage has a crisis that can

positively or negatively affect personality development. Erikson emphasized the role of culture

and society has on the child as they develop. As the child successfully resolves each social crisis,

they develop their own ego and personality. These eight stages ranging from infancy to late

adulthood include trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry

vs. inferiority, ego identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation,

and ego integrity vs. despair. Without mastering these stages, it can be difficult to move onto the

next stage of development and then there is a disconnect between the social/emotional identity of
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the child with his or her cognitive, physical, and language parts of development. If the

introduction of animals to those who have autism can help them master each stage of

psychosocial development, then there would be little to no disconnect with that domain.

Another related theory on the research of the effects animals have on the social

development of those with Autism is Bronfenbrenners ecological systems theory in which there

are five systems surrounding the child that influence behavior and development within children.

These systems include microsystems, which consist of a system of immediate and distinct

influences on the child such as family, school and peers, mesosystems, which are the interactions

between the connections within the microsystem as in teachers interacting with family,

exosystems, which are links in a social setting where they do not have an immediate role within

the childs development but is still relevant such as neighbors or mass media and finally the

macrosystem which consists of attitudes and ideologies culture has on the child. This theory

relates to the research my partner and I have been doing is much like Ericksons theory, this

ecological theory of development shows how throughout the human lifespan, we move through

progressively more complex interactions, each more complex than the last. These interactions

that revolve around the child within these systems, affect all domains of development through

social interactions. Socially, a child with ASD according to the CDC, have trouble relating to

others, want to be alone, have trouble developing empathy for others and have trouble expressing

their needs verbally among other challenges. These challenges can form another disconnect with

the relationships a child with ASD could potentially form. Again, if introducing animals can help

with social function and overall productivity of the child then it can create an optimal learning

environment for that child.

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The last related theory to this area of research my partner and I have been studying is

Banduras social learning theory. This theory suggests behavior is learned through observation,

imitation and identification from adults, peers and potentially animals whom are in the childs

microsystem. This theory applies to our research question in that animals omit certain types of

positive prosocial behaviors that children naturally pick up from observation and imitation. If

this behavior can be reinforced somehow, this can be helpful to child development professionals

in treating Autism Spectrum Disorder and making it a disability in which the challenges are a

little easier to overcome.

Our research question pertains to the roles animals have on the social development on

children with ASD. This research is important because there is still a great amount of knowledge

we do not know about this disability and current knowledge is not recognized and shared to other

professionals as it should be. However, my partner and I were interested in how we could

combine our love for animals and our love for child development in a way where children can

greatly benefit from. The findings of our research have gotten society one step closer in helping

those with disabilities develop in astonishing ways and overcome their disabilities that they were

born with. Researchers in this field should continue their work within this topic because it can

open many doors for children who have been given up on within the education system due to

their disabilities.
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References

Autism spectrum Disorder(ASD). (2016, March). Retreived from

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/facts.html

Killam, W., Degges-White, S., (2017, Apr). College student development: applying theory to

practice on the diverse campus. Retrieved from:

https://books.google.com/books?id=zpbvDQAAQBAJ&printsec=copyright#v=onepage&

q&f=false
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Annotated Bibliography

Funahashi, A., Gruebler, A., Aoki, T., Kadone, H., Suzuki, K. (2013 July). Brief report: the

smiles of a child with autism spectrum disorder during an animal-assisted activity may

facilitate social positive behaviors-quantitative analysis with smile-detecting interface.

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 40(3), 685-693.

The question this study seeks to answer is whether positive social behaviors and smiles

correlate with animal-assisted activities for children on the Autism spectrum. This study engaged

a quantitative methodological approach as they investigated the childrens smiles using wearable

interface devices during animal-assisted activities using different breeds of dogs. Because this

study is conducted in a quantitative way with children whom might have difficulties expressing

their thoughts and feelings by means of social interactions, physical signals from the facial

muscles is a good way to measure emotional information. The primary research method they

used was this this wearable device however they also used video recording which is used

frequently to detect subtle changes within early development and is helpful because the

researchers are able to play the video back in order to look at the behavior more closely and

repeatedly.

The participants of this study included a ten-year-old boy on the autism spectrum and a

normal healthy boy of the same age who both willingly contributed to this study. Each animal-

assisted activity (AAA) session lasted between thirty and forty minutes. The wearable device

collects EMG signals from brain activity that recognizes facial expressions from movements in

the muscles on the side of the face and then uses those signals to compute the findings. Each
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session with the dogs consisted of the child putting on their device, a photo session and walk

session, animal assisted activity, and post walk session.

The main findings of this study were that the accuracy of the device was proven due to

the fact that it picked up smiles during times the face could not be examined by the medical

examiner through only video. For the control subject, there were clear positive relationships

between the increase in smiling and the increase of social behaviors which remained relatively

constant throughout the research. For the child with ASD however, at first there was an increase

of negative behaviors first as smiles increased but gradually decreased as the smiles increased in

further sessions and negative social behaviors almost disappeared during the last session. The

only real limitation of this study was that with video recording, it can be hard sometimes to

accurately detect emotions and feelings especially for a child on the autism spectrum only

because they may not be able to physically show those emotions even though they have them.

Therefore, the facial detection technology can detect smiles, although smiling does not

necessarily mean a person is happy so the emotions could become misread.

The perspective that is not being represented in this research is one from a teachers point

of view in that in order to relate this back to the way children with ASD process and express

social behaviors in the classroom. I think this research is helpful for teachers to gain better

knowledge about what helps children with ASD become the most successful with social

relationships at school which can help cognitive, physical and language function as well. The

theory that closely relates to the affects of all domains due to social behavior is Bronfenbrennrs

theory of ecological systems. Because social behavior is increasing with the amount of smiles

that increase, I can hypothesize this will also have positive effects on the rest of the domains of

development for the child.

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OHaire, M., McKenzie, S., McCrune, S., Slaughter, V. (2014 March). Effects of classroom

animal-assisted activities on social functioning in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine. 30(2), 162-168.

The specific question this research study attempts to answer is how the implementation of

animal assisted activities positively affects the social functioning of children with Autism

Spectrum Disorder. The researchers were trying to relate this activity with performance in the

classroom. This study engaged a quantitative methodological approach as they investigated the

children in standardized instruments at three different time points in order to properly assess the

social functioning of the child with ASD. The research aimed to explore the ways teachers can

further assist children with ASD in their classrooms for optimum learning. The study consisted

of 41 classrooms in 15 schools in Australia where the data was collected through assessments at

three times, beginning, middle and after of the program had ended. For this study, the researchers

used guinea pigs as intervention animals because they are known to be the ideal classroom pet

due to their social behaviors, diurnal tendencies, and being relatively easy to care for and handle.

The measures of the data collected depended on activity frequency and session attendance and

whether the children adopted a pet after the sessions. Teacher and parent reports were also

collected for data using scales such as the Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory

which assesses responsiveness to interventions for children with ASD and the Social Skills

Rating System which is used to assess the overall social skills in all children with or without

disabilities. The data was then evaluated by change over time, individual effects and classroom

effects.
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Follow-up reports from parents indicate that some of the main findings were reported that

their child established an increase desire to attend school while the guinea pigs were part of the

classroom experience. Because of these findings, all the guinea pigs after the experiment were

adopted by the children and the teachers. Over half of the teachers adopted the guinea pigs used

in this study to keep in their classrooms due to the positive results that they omitted. Main

findings suggest that inclusive classrooms, while work for some, can be a stressful and

overstimulated environment for children who have autism and this study has advocated for the

presence of an animal in the classroom such as a guinea pig can help children feel more

comfortable in classrooms and making them appear less stressful and more happy and

welcoming. There was a significant improvement of social functioning observed by both parents

and teachers within this study. A limitation to this study are within the questionnaires and who

fills them out. A parent is going to have a different perspective than the teacher about their own

child and what positive behaviors look like are different depending on culture among other

factors. I feel as though if a professional conducted the questionnaires, it might be a little more

accurate since there is only one person conducting it rather than receiving different information

from different types of people in a very objective way.

The perspective that is missing from this research are the childrens perspectives. I think

it would be helpful knowing what the children (both with ASD and without) thought about this

study. Questions like how did you like an animal in your classroom, how did it help you

understand differently in the classroom and asking the children that adopted the guinea pigs after

why they wanted to adopt and how has their life improved since adopting would be helpful to

gain insight on the subject about their thoughts and feelings and perhaps because of this study,
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children with ASD would be better inclined to show their thoughts and feelings towards others as

they are improving social function.

The implications of this research are that adding animals into the classroom can be highly

beneficial for those with Autism Spectrum Disorder in regards to social functioning. Children

who have been exposed to animal assisted activities demonstrate more frequent positive social

behavior than they did before the animals were introduced suggesting that the animals help the

classroom environment feel less intimidating for the child with ASD. the implications of this

study were adequately addressed by the researchers of this topic in ways that were concise and

easy for the reader to understand.

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References

Funahashi, A., Gruebler, A., Aoki, T., Kadone, H., Suzuki, K. (2013 July). Brief report: the

smiles of a child with autism spectrum disorder during an animal-assisted activity may

facilitate social positive behaviors-quantitative analysis with smile-detecting interface.

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 40(3), 685-693.

OHaire, M., McKenzie, S., McCrune, S., Slaughter, V. (2014 March). Effects of classroom

animal-assisted activities on social functioning in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine. 30(2), 162-168.