Presented 16 8th-grade students with a developmental curriculum of 5 challenging computer programs of increasing difficulty to see how far their natural curiosity and drive to learn would take them. Ss were not told they would be tested or graded on their performance. The Ss ranged in reaction from a reluctance to start the simplest program to a partial proficiency in the most difficult program. None of the Ss made it all the way through the sequence. Most students in computer enrichment classes tend to be performance oriented. A theory of motivation is proposed to explain the findings.