Assessing the efficacy of dogs in Animal Assisted Therapy and the mechanisms of action across a range of therapeutic settings.

动物辅助治疗（AAT）是利用动物为人类提供治疗的过程.这种方法现在在英国很普遍，目前在学校、医院和疗养院以及各种人群中使用。然而，由于未能达到可接受的科学严谨性标准，因此在很大程度上缺乏对其使用的科学支持。此外，现有的研究未能确定AAT可能产生益处的机制。关于AAT如何“工作”的一个建议是亲生物假说，该假说提出人类需要与动物联系。相反，缺乏效率可能是由于新奇或因为经验是分散注意力。因此，这个博士学位的目的是双重的。首先，在一系列环境中（使用适当的控制措施，合理的实验设计和适当的样本量）提供AAT对焦虑的有效性的合理科学评估。第二个目的是测试AAT的潜在机制。亲生物性理论声称，活体动物特有的特性，如它们的相互作用，是观察到的积极结果的原因，但这一假设尚未得到系统的检验。这项拟议中的研究将通过比较使用治疗犬、仿生机器人和其他强大控制的结果来调查可能的作用机制。评估AAT在各种情况下减少焦虑的程度，并深入了解如何实现积极的结果，将为一系列机构提供明确的指导，使儿童、治疗师、专业人员和工作人员受益。

Animal Assisted Therapy ('AAT') is the process of using animals for thetherapeutic benefit of humans. The method is now widespread in the UK,being currently used in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes, and with arange of population groups.However, scientific support for its use is largely lacking, due to failures tomeet acceptable standards for scientific rigour. Also, existing studies fail toidentify the mechanisms by which AAT may produce benefits. Onesuggestion for how AAT 'works' is the Biophilia Hypothesis which proposesthat humans have a need to affiliate with animals. Conversely, observedefficacy could be due to novelty or because the experience is distracting.Thus, the aim of this PhD is twofold. Firstly, to provide sound scientificassessment of the efficacy of AAT on anxiety across a range of settings (usingappropriate control measures, sound experimental design, and sufficientsample sizes). The second aim is to test the mechanisms underlying AAT. Thetheory of Biophilia purports that properties specific to living animals, such astheir interactivity, are responsible for the positive outcomes observed, yetthis hypothesis has not been systematically tested. This proposed studywould investigate possible mechanisms of action by comparing outcomesusing therapy dogs, a biomimetic robot and other robust controls.Assessing the extent to which AAT reduces anxiety across a variety ofcontexts, and gaining insights in to how positive outcomes may be achieved,will provide clear guidance for a range of institutions, benefitting children,therapists, professionals and staff.