[3dfernando]

I think you are talking about what we call "Rigging".
Rigging is the set-up of the "bones" of your character, something essential to animate it. Yes, you can tell to 3dsmax that an arm moves with two, or three articulations, etc.

Try looking the 3dsmax tutorials about "Rigging", "bones" and "Inverse Kinematics", etc.

Good luck! =)