A study was conducted in a day care setting to assess whether differences in the intellectual and social competence scores of young children were reflected in the communicative behavior occurring between the children's mothers and caregivers. A total of forty-seven 2- to 4-year-old children in day care and their mothers participated. Two instruments developed by the researcher measured mothers' attitudes and behaviors. Additionally, the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities and the Harvard Preschool Project's Social Competence Checklist were administered to test, respectively, children's intellectual and social competence. Based on the sample, it was determined that, as children scored higher on intellectual and social tests, their mothers were found to be making increased efforts to become knowledgeable consumers of day care services for their children. Specifically, significant relationships were found (1) between mothers' communicative attitude scores and their children's intellectual and social competence scores and (2) between mothers' communicative attitude scores and their communicative behavior. Results suggested that the mother/caregiver interaction is highly attitudinal. Appended are two checklists (Classification of Parent Attitude toward Caregiver Communication and Parent Participation Communication Checklist) and two charts (Attitude toward Caregiver Communication and Levels of Communicative Behavior). (Author/BJD)