The Advisory Panel on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) Score Decline contends that many factors have contributed to the drop in scores on the SAT and many other tests. The research evidence and theory about three social motives that could be expected to play some role in test performance and academic functioning are examined: the motives for achievement, for affiliation, and for power. The possibility of a motivational overload is also discussed. Broad cultural trends (i.e., post-Sputnik emphasis on academic achievement, revolt of the counterculture, crisis of values in Vietnam and Watergate) and related specific changes in the educational system (open, alternative, and humanistic education) may have direct and indirect effects on motives. Some hypotheses suggest that actual motive levels went up or down with corresponding effects on academic performance. Others suggest the ways in which social forces may have changed beliefs about the nature and value of academic work, beliefs that may interact with relatively constant motive levels to produce behavior changes. (Author/EVH)