London, Jan 3 (IANS): Absent-minded conversations with your infants work much better at improving their communication and problem-solving skills than reading a book to them or showing them pictures, says a study.

The positive effects of more informal activity of frequently talking to the infant while doing other things is greater than positive effects of reading to them or showing pictures, the researchers pointed out.

"We would have thought that there might have been a good effect of reading, perhaps more so than the talking," Suzanne Egan, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Limerick, was quoted as saying.

The study involved 7,845 nine-month-old infants.

The findings suggest that frequently talking to the infants while doing other things can boost their cognitive development.

The researchers are now looking into longer term impact of reading and talking to children up to three years of age, Daily Mail reported.