This study investigated the problem-solving effectiveness of family units, in order to account for social class differences in problem-solving ability. Basil Bernstein's theory concerning the role of speech styles in perception and information processing formed the basis for investigation; family speech styles, leadership patterns, and role expectations were examined. Family units (consisting of father, mother, and a teenage son) attempted to solve externally generated standardized problems under various conditions of experimentally determined freedom. Family speech in the problem-solving situations and mothers' speech from a preexperimental interview were then analyzed. Although data revealed that middle-class families were better problem solvers than were lower-class families, speech complexity was not found to be related to this ability, nor was frequency of communication related to problem-solving differences. Although the use of abstractions was related to differences between families, the best explanation for middle-class superiority in problem-solving was related to leadership patterns and to class-related normative expectations about leadership. (KS)