The role individual psychological motives play in failure in learning was studied through a survey of students of English as a Second Language at a Saudi Arabian university. Students who scored about 80% and those who scored lower than 60% (the passing grade) on an English language examination were interviewed about their previous experiences and attitudes about the course and education in general. Among the many reasons advanced for failure were getting a poor start, having expectations about the difficulty of the course based on the experiences of others, and various pressures, including the pressure imposed by having a tuition grant. Interview findings show the importance of cooperative incentives for learning, but they also indicate the negative effects of being mistaken in a cooperative learning situation. The implications for the college teacher are discussed. (Contains 41 references.) (SLD)