Preschoolers' ability to utilize language in spatial problem solving was tested with 64 predominately middle-class children. The number of correct responses was analyzed using an age/sex/medium analysis of variance. It was found that the verbal response mode leads to substantially more correct responses than do pictures and that girls performed significantly better than boys. There were no significant differences between age levels (3.0-3.11 and 4.0-4.11), and there were no significant interactions between main effects. In general, the mental operations used in problem solving do not appear to be determined by the surface characteristics of the task (visual-spatial or verbal), but rather by the degree to which more linguistic-like descriptions or more visual-spatial and analog descriptions are required. The results imply that linguistic processes are accessible for problem solving at an early age and question the notion that the use of a visual mode precedes a verbal mode. (SW)