Babble Rousers: Babies find their voice when given social push

Eight-month-old infants utter more complex, speechlike sounds when their mothers encourage them with well-timed touches and smiles rather than with words offered as models to imitate, a new study finds.

This provides the first evidence that nonverbal interactions with caregivers shape babies’ vocal learning, says psychologist Michael H. Goldstein of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa.