Measuring social synchrony and stress in the handler-dog dyad during animal-assisted activities: A pilot study

Synchrony —the coordination of behavior between interacting partners—is a complex phenomenon requiring the perception and integration of multimodal communicative signals. Originally conceptualized by developmental psychologists to study the human-human relationship, it could also apply to cross-species in teractions. Here, we examined synchrony patterns as a potentially important mechanism to evaluate human-dog interactions during animal-assisted activities. Four dog handler-dog dyads were videotaped before (T0), during (T1), and after (T2) 45-minute sessions of animal-assisted activities and coded f or the following synchrony patterns: gaze synchrony, joint attention, and touch synchrony.
Source: Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research - Category: Veterinary Research Authors: Tags: Canine research Source Type: research