A developmental transition in prehension modeled as a cusp catastrophe.

The purpose of the study was to show that the change from reaching without grasping to reaching with grasping during the first 6 months of life carried the characteristics of a discontinuous phase transition (catastrophe). A cross-sectional study was carried out with 58 infants between 60 and 408 days old. The infants were seated in a specially designed seat, and presented with nine detachable balls on a black curved board within reaching distance at shoulder height. The number of reaches without and with grasping were scored from video. A cusp catastrophe model was fitted to the data. A Likelihood-Ratio test indicated that the likelihood of the cusp model was significantly higher, p < .001, than a linear regression model. The cusp model was also compared with a logistic model. Akaike's Information criterion for the cusp catastrophe exceeded the logistic model, thus indicating a general better fit. Based on prior research, the following potential control parameters were chosen: crown-heel length, total body weight, arm length, arm circumference, ponderal index, arm volume, arm weight, and body position relative to the horizontal. The cusp model predicted that arm weight and arm circumference significantly contributed to the control parameters. It was found that these two variables had their largest contribution to the asymmetry control parameters.