The dynamics of walking acquisition: a tutorial.
Tracking for developmental changes is at the heart of developmental psychology. The qualitative features of the variation of the center of mass (CoM) acceleration during a sequence of steps are revealed by first return maps, a tool taken from differential dynamics. The focus is put on the acceleration of the CoM along the antero-posterior and medio-lateral axes. Application is shown on data recorded from one infant followed up repeatedly during the first year of learning to walk. At a given experience in walking, the gait dynamics is exhaustively characterized by a specific enchainment of pendula and quasi-equilibria. The developmental process is revealed by the succession of dynamical structures, each determined at each walking experience. It shows a drift toward increasingly regular gait patterns, together with a clear asymmetry between an impulse foot and a regulatory foot.
Institut National d'Études Démographiques, France.
Noël
N
Bonneuil
Blandine
B
Bril
D000054:Acceleration; D000367:Age Factors; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000502:physiology; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*