Literary Review (condensed)
Creators: name: Hawkins, Lauren
Publisher: name: Open Science Framework
Year: 2022

description: Research has already shown that the presence of animals – particularly dogs – can be extremely beneficial to humans in a number of ways (Strickland, 2013; Adamle, Riley, &amp; Carson, 2009; McNicholas et al, 2005). Some of the principal benefits are effects on emotions. The presence of a dog has yielded significant progress in improving the outlook of the elderly in nursing homes as well as disabled children, and that is not to mention the stress relief that they often bring to college students (Gácsi et al., 2016; Strickland, 2013; Adamle, Riley, &amp; Carson, 2009; El-Alayli et al., 2006; McNicholas et al., 2005, Jalongo, Astorino, &amp; Bomboy, 2004). It has also been found that emotions can very seriously impact individuals’ confidence levels (Pescetelli, Rees, &amp; Bahrami, 2016; Massoni, 2014; Blankenship, Nesbit, &amp; Murray, 2013). Given the therapeutic effect dogs seem to have on those emotions, the purpose of this research is to determine whether the presence of a dog can actually increase individuals’ confidence levels. It is hypothesized that if a dog is present when an individual completes an activity – in this case, a brief arithmetic exercise – then he/she will express greater confidence in his/her responses than those who complete the activity alone. If the hypothesis is confirmed, the research may serve as another piece of the puzzle promoting the benefits of pet therapy. If it is not, however, it may indicate a lack of supporting evidence for the notion that pet therapy is beneficial for the sake of confidence levels. That could potentially say a lot about the supposed effectiveness of therapy dogs on campus during college exam weeks. References Adamle, K. N., Riley, T. A., &amp; Carlson, T. (2009). Evaluating college student interest in pet therapy. Journal of American College Health, 57(5), 545-548. Blankenship, K. L., Nesbit, S. M., &amp; Murray, R. A. (2013). Driving anger and metacognition: The role of thought confidence on anger and aggressive driving intentions. Aggressive Behavior, 39(4), 323-334. El-Alayli, A., Lystad, A. L, Webb, S. R., Hollingsworth, S. L., &amp; Ciolli J. L. (2006). Reigning cats and dogs: A pet-enhancement bias and its link to pet attachment, pet-self similarity, self-enhancement, and well being. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 28(2), 131-143. Gácsi, M., Kis, A., Faragó, T., Janiak, M., Muszyński, R., &amp; Miklósi, A. (2016). Humans attribute emotions to a robot that shows simple behavioural patterns borrowed from dog behaviour. Computers in Human Behavior, 59, 411-419. Jalongo, M. R., Astorino, T., &amp; Bomboy, N. (2004). Canine visitors: The influence of therapy dogs on young children’s learning and well-being in classrooms and hospitals. Early Childhood Education Journal, 32(1), 9-16. Massoni, S. (2014). Emotion as a boost to metacognition: How worry enhances the quality of confidence. Consciousness and Cognition, 29, 189-198. McNicholas, J., Gilbey, A., Rennie, A., Ahmedzai, S., Dono, J., &amp; Ormerod, E. (2005). Pet ownership and human health: A brief review of evidence and issues. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 331(7527), 1252-1254. Pescetelli, N., Rees, G., &amp; Bahrami, B. (2016). The perceptual and social components of metacognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145(8), 949-965. Strickland, O. (2013). A companion animal in a work simulation: The roles of task difficulty and prior companion-animal guardianship in state anxiety. Society &amp; Animals: Journal of Human-Animal Studies, 21(3), 249-265.