Maternal interaction, private speech, and task performance in preschool children

Abstract

This study examined the correspondence between ontogenetic and microgenetic change in private speech, the association of private speech with task performance, and the relationship of maternal interaction during a teaching session to preschoolers' verbal self-regulation and success in independent problem solving. Thirty 4- and 5-year-olds were observed while their mothers assisted them in solving two challenging tasks. In three subsequent sessions, children's private speech and performance were tracked as they worked on tasks requiring skills similar to those taught in the mother-child session. Correspondences between age- and session-related trends in private speech and task performance appeared that are consistent with Vygotsky's assumption that private speech undergoes progressive internalization with increasing cognitive competence. Contrary to Vygotskian assumptions, utterances accompanying action were not replaced by those preceding action (planning statements) with advancing age and task mastery. Private speech predicted gain in task performance more effectively than concurrent performance. A global index of authoritative parenting was a better predictor of private speech and task performance than were microanalytic measures of scaffolding, suggesting that microanalytic indices may miss critical features of maternal teaching behavior that promote transfer of cognitive strategies from adult to child.