Developmental Changes in Interlimb Coordination: Transition to Hands-and-Knees Crawling

The results revealed that all 6 infants converged on the same diagonal interlimb pattern for locomoting shortly after developing sufficient muscle strength to support their abdomens above the support surface.

Abstract

A short-term longitudinal study was conducted to assess changes in the patterning of the limbs during infants’ transition to hands-and-knees crawling Six infants were studied using observational and kinematic assessment techniques The results revealed that all 6 infants converged on the same diagonal interlimb pattern for locomoting shortly after developing sufficient muscle strength to support their abdomens above the support surface This finding is significant because forward prone progression could be accomplished using any number of interlimb patterns (e g, moving one limb at a time), yet a diagonal pattern is the most flexible and dynamically efficient The process by which this behavioral pattern emerges appears consistent with recent developmental theories suggesting that new responses are selected to optimize performance following periods of increased variability induced by changing organismic or environmental conditions