The author is critical of some parenting styles:

Sadly, some parents are likely to take the wrong lessons from these experiments and conclude that they need programs and products that will make their babies even smarter. Many think that babies, like adults, should learn in a focused, planned way. So parents put their young children in academic-enrichment classes or use flashcards to get them to recognize the alphabet. Government programs like No Child Left Behind urge preschools to be more like schools, with instruction in specific skills.

Perhaps not surprisingly:

But what children observe most closely, explore most obsessively and imagine most vividly are the people around them. There are no perfect toys; there is no magic formula. Parents and other caregivers teach young children by paying attention and interacting with them naturally and, most of all, by just allowing them to play.

The research intrigues me. Babies get their parents' genes and nurture. What do you know about yourself that may influence your child adversely? Are you, e.g., an adult child of an alcoholic parent(s)? Do you manifest these characteristics: http://www.adultchildren.org/lit/Laundry_List.php

Your child is observing.