Pretending to understand what infants say can makes them smarter

The findings of this research raise the question of how much of a role is the parent’s capacity for mentalization playing here? One needs to be able to fantasize a baby with her or his own inner life to be able to talk to the baby as if the baby understands.

One presumes that a parent who talks to her or his baby in a way that is grossly discordant with the baby’s felt experience is not likely to help the infant to develop language.