Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

As the human hand reaches out to grasp an object, it preshapes into a shape suitable for theanticipated interaction. As it gets close to the object, it encloses it. Behavioral studies haveshown interactions between grasping components and arm transport components. Biomechanicalstudies look at human hand postures, while neurophysiologists try to suggest how those posturesare formed and controlled. In order to evaluate such studies, models are needed which can beused to predict grasping behavior characteristics from a few basic object properties. By lookingat the action-perception cycle in primate hand movement, we hope to gain insight into neocorticalorganization, thus being able to suggest algorithms which could also be at work at all levels ofhuman intelligence.