Quantitative Study: The Haptic Tactic
Fall 2011

This quantitative study for Topics in Cognition and Learning: Visualization investigated the effects of touching live animals on learning. There is currently debate regarding if the benefits of handling animals outweigh the consequences to the animal’s health and safety. To investigate if handling animals has an impact, subjects will interact with two animals, one through touch and the other through observation only. The results suggest that the types of content retained differed depending on if the subject touched the animal or not, but over time that difference disappears. The emotional component to interacting with animals may also have long-term impacts that could be leveraged by educational institutions.