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<p>The notion that dog-human interactions have the potential to mitigate impacts concerning the delay of typical development of social skills in humans is a novel concept. Research evidence concerning three aspects of social-cognition: sensory perception of social-cues, theory of mind and learning social-schemas, were reviewed with the scope to explore this notion. Literature from two different fields of research inquiry: animal-behaviour and neuroscience, was evaluated. Emerging from the animal-behavioural studies’ review was that aspects of dog behaviour could be a functional analogue of human behaviour (e.g. perception of social-cues). Neuroscience research theories concerning the functional role of the mirror neuron system in social-cognition in humans were evaluated against evidence from animal-behavioural studies investigating the relationship between dogs and children with socio-communicative developmental delays (e.g. vision impairment, Autism). It emerged that both fields of research suggested that through “embodied simulations” an alternative (e.g. to language and/or vision) approach to acquiring knowledge concerning the world of social interactions may be possible for individuals who present with developmental delays of social-competence. Within this context it is suggested that dog-human interactions may provide learning opportunities for development of social-competence in individuals with vision impairment. Implications for practice for the disability sector and specific examples for professionals who work with individuals who have vision impairment and assistance/therapy dogs are discussed.</p>
</abstract>

The notion that dog-human interactions have the potential to mitigate impacts concerning the delay of typical development of social skills in humans is a novel concept. Research evidence concerning three aspects of social-cognition: sensory perception of social-cues, theory of mind and learning social-schemas, were reviewed with the scope to explore this notion. Literature from two different fields of research inquiry: animal-behaviour and neuroscience, was evaluated. Emerging from the animal-behavioural studies’ review was that aspects of dog behaviour could be a functional analogue of human behaviour (e.g. perception of social-cues). Neuroscience research theories concerning the functional role of the mirror neuron system in social-cognition in humans were evaluated against evidence from animal-behavioural studies investigating the relationship between dogs and children with socio-communicative developmental delays (e.g. vision impairment, Autism). It emerged that both fields of research suggested that through “embodied simulations” an alternative (e.g. to language and/or vision) approach to acquiring knowledge concerning the world of social interactions may be possible for individuals who present with developmental delays of social-competence. Within this context it is suggested that dog-human interactions may provide learning opportunities for development of social-competence in individuals with vision impairment. Implications for practice for the disability sector and specific examples for professionals who work with individuals who have vision impairment and assistance/therapy dogs are discussed.

Social-cognition and dog-human interactions: Is there potential for therapeutic-interventions for the disability sector?

Vision Rehabilitation International

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The notion that dog-human interactions have the potential to mitigate impacts concerning the delay of typical development of social skills in humans is a novel...

Activity-learning opportunity	Sensory modality	Dog communicative cue	Lesson to be learnt	Social behaviour
Object retrieval: ball-game (fetch and throw)	Tactile &Auditory	Vocalise/body-touch/nose nudge	Ball not thrown back when retrieved, play stops	Reciprocity, direct response
Object possession: toy belongs to child/tug of war	Tactile &Auditory	Vocalise	Pat dog when dog leaves the toy	Self-concept, mutual respect
Chase or wrestling	Tactile &Auditory	Vocalise/body touch	Play kindly	Contingent activity, ToM
Run/walk with dog on leash	Tactile	Body touch	No parallel walking, dog stops and pulls on leash	Boundaries, social distance
Grooming	Tactile	Relaxed body	Mutual care	Mutual Alliance, reciprocity of taking care of each other
Sleeping time: put on pyjamas while dog goes to its bed	Tactile	Vocalise/body touch	We do it together	Social bonds/collaboration

Social-cognition and dog-human interactions: Is there potential for therapeutic-interventions for the disability sector?

Publié en ligne: 01 janv. 2021

Pages: 1 - 14

Reçu: 10 mai 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/vri-2021-001

Mots clés
Social-cognition, Socio-communicative development, Autism, Vision impairment, Companion-dogs, Therapy-dogs, Mirror neurons

© 2020 M. Bellio et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Activities for practice, drawn from the work of Dobbs-Gross (2006) and Solomon (2010; 2012)): the “Like my dog” hypothesis and opportunities to teach children, through dog-human interactions, concepts concerning social-competence.

Social-cognition and dog-human interactions: Is there potential for therapeutic-interventions for the disability sector?

Publié en ligne: 01 janv. 2021

Pages: 1 - 14

Reçu: 10 mai 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/vri-2021-001

Mots clésSocial-cognition, Socio-communicative development, Autism, Vision impairment, Companion-dogs, Therapy-dogs, Mirror neurons

© 2020 M. Bellio et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Activities for practice, drawn from the work of Dobbs-Gross (2006) and Solomon (2010; 2012)): the “Like my dog” hypothesis and opportunities to teach children, through dog-human interactions, concepts concerning social-competence.

Mots clés
Social-cognition, Socio-communicative development, Autism, Vision impairment, Companion-dogs, Therapy-dogs, Mirror neurons