Presents the view that motives are cognitive representations of a goal with no necessary relation to either action or affect. It is suggested that resolution of uncertainty, hostility, and mastery are primary motives that can lead to similar classes of secondary motives and phenotypically identical goal-related behaviors. A developmental scheme for motive organization is discussed, based on the view that changing modes of uncertainty control the hierarchical position of secondary motives. (58 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)