Does a Dog at School Help Identify Human and Animal Facial Expressions? A Preliminary Longitudinal Study
Manon Toutain1, Nicolas Dollion2, Laurence Henry1
1EthoS (Éthologie Animale et Humaine)-UMR 6552, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University Rennes, Normandie University, F-35000 Rennes, France.
European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education
|February 25, 2025
Summary
A year-long school program with a service dog improved facial recognition in adolescents with cognitive disorders. This included recognizing emotions in human and dog faces, unlike in a control group.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Animal-Assisted Interventions
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Background:
- Limited research exists on animal presence, particularly service dogs, in school settings.
- This pilot study addresses the impact of service dogs on children's social-cognitive development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if a year-long exposure to a service dog in a school environment enhances facial expression recognition in adolescents with cognitive function disorders.
- To compare the effects of service dog presence on facial expression recognition between adolescents with cognitive disorders and neurotypical controls.
Main Methods:
- Twenty-three adolescents participated: 10 in a specialized French teaching program (LUSI) with a service dog and 13 neurotypical controls.
- Participants identified facial expressions (sadness, joy, fear, neutral, anger) on human, dog, and cat faces at three time points over 14 months.
- Performance was assessed before, during, and after the service dog's integration into the LUSI program.
Main Results:
- Adolescents in the LUSI group showed significant improvement in recognizing facial expressions of dogs (p=0.001) and humans (p=0.01) over time.
- No significant improvement was observed in recognizing cat facial expressions (p>0.05) or in the control group (all p>0.05).
- Improved performance in the LUSI group correlated with prior experience living with animals.
Conclusions:
- A school-based service dog program can enhance facial expression recognition abilities in adolescents with cognitive function disorders.
- The presence of a service dog positively impacts social-cognitive skills, specifically in interpreting canine and human emotions.
- Findings suggest potential benefits of integrating animal-assisted interventions in educational settings for children with special needs.
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