TUNING into a baby's thinking is one of the key elements in a child's successful later development.

That is the most significant finding to date of a wide-ranging research project being carried out by Durham University academic Dr Elizabeth Meins.

And her work so far with 200 mothers and babies from the Teesside area has won her further backing from the Economic and Social Research Council, bringing her funding up to a total of £500,000.

For the past two years, Dr Meins has been following the progress of scores of young children, first at eight months, then 14 months and two years. Concentrating on language and play skills, and with the further funding, Dr Meins and her team will continue to follow the progress of the children again at three four and five years.

Her initial findings have shown that a mother's ability to "read'' her baby's mind has much more impact than her status or how well off the family is.

The research, she said, has shown the value of spending quality time with a child.

And while accepting that modern mothers are often busy with work, running homes, and looking after older children, she suggests: "Even spending ten minutes just concentrating on your child on a one-to-one basis each day will have a huge impact on their development.''.

Dr Meins, a mother to five-year-old Athena and 18-month-old Isaac, added: "When you have your own babies, you see just how much it means to interact with your child.''

In recent years, she said research had been concentrated on women living in deprived areas, but now her research team is hoping their findings will help professionals in the field to pass on the advice of the "giving your time" approach.