The article analyzes motivation as one of the fundamental problems in psychology. Here, an important place in pedagogical research is occupied by the study of behavior, motivation, especially educational motives. Effective social and pedagogical interaction with a student can not be carried out without taking into account the peculiarities of his motivation. For objectively similar actions of students (for example, the desire to study well), there are various reasons (the desire to become a good specialist, the fear of losing a scholarship, the desire for respect in the group, etc.). Educational motivation is systemic in nature and represents a hierarchy of motives, where one or another group of motives prevails. The phenomenon of transformation of motivational processes, manifested in the process of transition from quantity to quality, in the field of education. Multiple loads of various disciplines of professional specialization lead to the formation of a stereotype in a particular state, reflecting psychological adaptation in the process of multiple educational activities.