This research project was designed to explore, in two phases, the nature of the relationship between parental behavior and children's ability to solve problems. Phase I, which is examined in this paper, deals with two specific questions: (1) Does a statistically significant relationship exist between the mother's linguistic code and the child's problem solving abilities? (2) Does a statistically significant relationship exist between the mother's parental feeling, standards and values and her linguistic code? Subjects were forty 23- and 24-year-old mothers (most of them from low-income families), who were enrolled in the Parents As Teachers Program (PAT) and their 3- to 4-year-old children. About 35% of the children were classified as Hispanic American, 63% as white, and 2% as other. Among the conclusions: (1) a significant positive relationship exists between parental overall linguistic code and children's problem solving abilities; and (2) parental question-asking behavior and the parental value base fuse to explain a high percentage of children's problem solving abilities scores. (Author/MP)