**5. Discussion and conclusions**

The empirical findings of studies on the effects on mother-child MLE strategies on children's cognitive studies support both commonsense knowledge and the MLE theory. MLE strategies used spontaneously in family interactions seem to facilitate the child's ability to benefit from mediation offered within the family context and later to generalize to other formal and nonformal learning situations. An intriguing finding that has emerged consistently in most studies is that cognitive modifiability was predicted most powerfully by mediation for Transcendence (expanding) (**Table 1**). The effect of mediation for Transcendence is articulated in view of the fact that it is the least frequent strategy. Mediation for Transcendence is expressed by the mediator's efforts to focus the child on concepts, generalizations, and principles, thus developing his/her abstract abilities.

The findings that distal factors in samples of children with learning difficulties [25, 27] directly predict children's cognitive modifiability might indicate a need to modify or refine the MLE theory.

The distal factors were found as predictors of the proximal factor of MLE strategies in typically developing children, but they do not predict children's cognitive modifiability. The MLE strategies in turn do predict children's cognitive modifiability. However, in samples of children experiencing learning difficulties, the distal factors (adverse conditions) were found to affect directly children's cognitive modifiability. It was suggested that to cancel or overcome the adverse effects, much more "robust" mediation efforts should be applied. The effects of the distal factors on children's cognitive modifiability would diminish should mothers be trained to mediate.

I suggest refining the MLE theory and extend the concept of MLE to include it within a more complex transactional-ecological model. We should reconsider the reciprocal nature of MLE and cognition within a broader scope of environmental factors, as well as dealing with the MLE processes as one component within a holistic framework. This is especially important because of the menace of overextending the influence of MLE processes and overgeneralizing it to explain too many cognitive and noncognitive phenomena. It is imperative to establish the conceptual limits of MLE theory and delineate its specific effects. The term "transactional" (rather than interactional) is aimed at the idea that MLE processes and cognitive functioning are reciprocal and have mutual effects. Wachs and Plomin [57] distinguish between interaction and transaction. Interaction involves individuals differentially reacting to similar environments, whereas transaction implies effects that are differential for both individuals and environments. A different distinction was suggested by Tzuriel [2, 5]. Interactional process is conceptualized by relative simplicity and transience of effects, whereas a transactional process is dialectically *circular* with a continual change and mutual adjustment of the factors involved. This dialectical circularity poses a real challenge for theory development and methodology, but with recent advances in technology and sophisticated statistical analyses, it can be handled effectively. There is a possibility though that the children's cognitive functioning might influence parentchild MLE strategies and that the circular relation between these factors depends on wider family, social, and cultural contexts. A similar conception has been discussed in Bronfenbrenner's [59] ecological approach and by Super and Harkness [58], who proposed the concept of *developmental niches*. Some evidence for the effects of age, context, and severity of a child's problems and cultural background has been reported as well [13–16, 19–22, 25–28]. In addition to cognitive aspects, we should consider children's affective and motivational processes as prerequisite factors in determining the nature of MLE processes and children's cognitive modifiability.
