Research participants needed for animal-assisted intervention study!

My name is Luke Argyle, I am recruiting participants for my research investigating the effects of a range of animal-assisted intervention types for my PhD.

‘The project “Exploring the effects of animal-assisted interventions – in person, online and via other technologies: robotics, virtual reality, and videos” contributes to research conducted on behalf of the University of Lincoln and has received a favourable ethical opinion by a University Research Ethics Committee [Ethics Reference: 2021_6620].’

What is the purpose of this study?
To investigate the effects of animal-assisted interventions across in person, online and other technological methodologies: using robotics, virtual reality, and videos.

What will you have to do?
Before you start: You would first complete an online consent form, whereby you will be asked questions regarding eligibility for the present study.

Phase 1:
You would then complete a short questionnaire asking a little about yourself. After this, you would complete a few short questionnaires regarding aspects of your overall wellbeing, followed by 3 cognitive tasks (all task procedures will be explained in full by the researcher prior to undergoing them). This will take around 15 minutes.

Phase 2:
You would then be randomly allocated to one of 6 conditions, for 10 minutes. Test conditions consist of either:
1- live interaction with a therapy dog,
2- online interaction with a therapy dog,
3- interaction with a robotic dog,
4- interacting with a dog in virtual reality,
5- watching a film about dogs,
6- reading a newspaper.

Phase 3:
After participation in your allocated condition, you will be asked to complete the questionnaires, as well as the 3 tasks again.

Phase 4:
After 4 weeks, you will be invited to fill in the questionnaires again.

Eligibility
Participants must be 18 or above.

How long will the study last?
Your participation should take around 45 min for the first part of the study and around 10 minutes for the follow-up stage.

Will taking part in the study be kept confidential?
Yes. Your data will be kept confidential and will be anonymised. No identifying information will be used within the writing up or publication of this research, or in sharing of the data.

Will I be rewarded or remunerated for taking part?
There will be no remuneration or reward. For students taking part in this study, you will be awarded 5 SONA points (if relevant).

If you are at all interested please contact me on my university email LArgyle@lincoln.ac.uk in order to arrange participation.
Kind regards,
Luke Argyle, Lead researcher,
Department of Social Science,
School of Psychology.

Story submitted by Luke Argyle
LArgyle@lincoln.ac.uk