Littman, R.A. "Motives, History and Causes." 1958 Nebraska Symposium on
             1. "What problem situation prompted Littman to write this article (Page 115, Para. 2)?"
             Richard Littman states in the cited paragraph that firstly, an unjustifiably large amount of time had been dedicated to this controversial subject: motivation. The very fact that the debate had persisted for such duration signaled to him a problem. Secondly, lack of agreement among psychologists on issues of motivation gave him the inkling that none of them were probably correct on the issue. For example, disagreements in definitions and constructions arise between Maslow (Being Motivation and Deficiency Motivation), Freud (Unconscious Motivation) and Lewin (tension-system hypothesis). Although Freud's work was somewhat antiquated at the 1958 symposium, followers of his persist to this day, and doubtlessly proponents of all three theorists were present.
             2. "What did Littman identify as the cause(s) of the problem (Page 115, Para 3; Page 132, Para 3)?"
             According to Littman, the cause of disagreement centers around a proliferation of invented terms surrounding motivation. He is referring to explanatory concepts lacking verifiable, or at least in some way observable referents. These invented terms are fictitious; they do not purport any new knowledge, but rather retranslate existing knowledge in "less attackable" language. When theorists simply invent terms, they are bound to disagree, and the reason is this: the invented term has little or no foundation in reality.
             Terms may be defined to refer to an exact, observable referent, however, most invented terms carry with them the excess baggage of surplus meaning. That is, when a term, such as Hull, Spence, and Miller's Hunger Drive simply refers to the amount of food one eats in proportion to the number of hours since one's last meal, it may be used as a ...