The article deals with the history of research on the psychology categories of motivation and self-regulation. The purpose of the article is to analyze motivation and self-regulation studies, as well as identify current and future issues for further research. It is deemed relevant due to the need to identify the issues of concern in studying motivation and self-regulation within current and future research. The novelty consists of the comprehensive review and analysis of all successive stages of motivation and self-regulation studies, based on which we formed the vectors of development and prospects of research in this field in the future.