An Analysis Of The Development Of Motor Coordination Of Infants Through Transfer Function Models

Abstract

Problems associated with motor development in infants have received much attention in the recent years.Early infant spontaneous activity is thought to be an important determinant of later motor ability. Hence, early detection of any irregularities in spontaneous motor patterns such as kicking is important if we are to identify and correct problems that may develop later. Various studies have employed linear cross correlation to examine relationships between joints during spontaneous kicking in young infants. However, the angular displacement curves produced during spontaneous kicking lead to non-linear circular time series. In this paper the couplings between joints and limbs are examined using circular cross correlation function to provide an accurate assessment of the joint relationships. Then, the Box-Jenkins type transfer function approach is used to develop dynamic models to describe intralimb and interlimb coordination of infant kicking in fullterm infants at 12 weeks of age.