Two experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of modeling and small group activities on language and cognitive change in samples of young, low socio-economic status (SES) children. Experiment I involved children attending two preschool centers for aid to dependent children. Experiment II took place in the context of a research preschool for low SES Mexican-Americans. The Experimental groups were exposed twice weekly for six weeks to a 10-12 minute live modeling session. This was immediately followed by a 20 minute small-group lesson on the task which had been demonstrated in the modeling session. Tasks dealt with size, color, number, spatial relations, similarities and differences, and concept categorization. The small group activity for Control Ss was the same as for the Experimental Ss except that these Ss did not observe a modeling session. The Comparison group Ss had no treatment other than the activities planned by their teachers. Five dependent variable measures were employed. Each measure was individually administered before and after the six week experimental period. In both experiments the three group comparison yielded significant F-ratios on the ITPA-VE subtest. Experimental Ss had the highest means and Comparison Ss the lowest means. It is suggested that oral language functions were more affected than general cognitive functions by the experiment. (Author/CK)