Recent scientific studies have demonstrated the crucial role of parental feedback in this process. When one group of babies made cooing or babbling sounds, their parents were instructed to give them immediate feedback in the form of smiles and encouragement. With a second group of babies, their parents were told to smile at them at random moments unrelated to their children’s attempts to produce sounds. The babies that received instantaneous feedback progressed more rapidly in their ability to communicate than the infants who received little or no reinforcement from their parents.
