Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow wanted to understand what motivates people. He believed that people possess a set of motivation
systems unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires.

Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person
seeks to fulfill the next one, and so on.

The earliest and most widespread version of Maslow's (1943, 1954) hierarchy of needs includes five
motivational needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.

This five stage model can be divided into basic (or deficiency) needs (e.g. physiological, safety, love, and
esteem) and growth needs (self-actualization).

The deficiency, or basic needs are said to motivate people when they are unmet. Also, the need to fulfil such
needs will become stronger the longer the duration they are denied. For example, the longer a person goes
without food the more hungry they will become.

One must satisfy lower level basic needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. Once these
needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to reach the highest level called self-actualization.

Every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization.
Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by failure to meet lower level needs. Life experiences, including
divorce and loss of job may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy.

Maslow noted only one in a hundred people become fully self-actualized because our society rewards
motivation primarily based on esteem, love and other social needs.

The original hierarchy of needs five-stage model

includes:
1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep.
2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear.
3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, affection and love, - from work group, family,
friends, romantic relationships.
4. Esteem needs - achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect,
respect from others.
5. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and
peak experiences.
Maslow posited that human needs are arranged in a hierarchy:

'It is quite true that man lives by bread alone — when there is no bread. But what happens to man’s desires
when there is plenty of bread and when his belly is chronically filled?

At once other (and “higher”) needs emerge and these, rather than physiological hungers, dominate the organism.
And when these in turn are satisfied, again new (and still “higher”) needs emerge and so on. This is what we
mean by saying that the basic human needs are organized into a hierarchy of relative prepotency' (Maslow,
1943, p. 375).

The expanded hierarchy of needs:

It is important to note that Maslow's (1943, 1954) five stage model has been expanded to include cognitive and
aesthetic needs (Maslow, 1970a) and later transcendence needs (Maslow, 1970b).

Changes to the original five-stage model are highlighted and include a seven-stage model and a eight-stage
model, both developed during the 1960's and 1970s.
1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.
2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, etc.
3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, affection and love, - from work group, family,
friends, romantic relationships.
4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige,
managerial responsibility, etc.
5. Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, etc.
6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.
7. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and
peak experiences.
8. Transcendence needs - helping others to achieve self actualization.
Self-actualization
Instead of focusing on psychopathology and what goes wrong with people, Maslow (1943) formulated a more
positive account of human behavior which focused on what goes right. He was interested in human potential,
and how we fulfill that potential.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that human motivation is based on people seeking
fulfillment and change through personal growth. Self-actualized people are those who were fulfilled and doing
all they were capable of.

The growth of self-actualization (Maslow, 1962) refers to the need for personal growth and discovery that is
present throughout a person’s life. For Maslow, a person is always 'becoming' and never remains static in these
terms. In self-actualization a person comes to find a meaning to life that is important to them.

As each person is unique the motivation for self-actualization leads people in different directions (Kenrick et al.,
2010). For some people self-actualization can be achieved through creating works of art or literature, for others
through sport, in the classroom, or within a corporate setting.

Maslow (1962) believed self-actualization could be measured through the concept of peak experiences. This
occurs when a person experiences the world totally for what it is, and there are feelings of euphoria, joy and
wonder.

It is important to note that self-actualization is a continual process of becoming rather than a perfect state one
reaches of a 'happy ever after' (Hoffman, 1988).

Maslow offers the following description of self-actualization:

'It refers to the person’s desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for him to become actualized in what
he is potentially.

The specific form that these needs will take will of course vary greatly from person to person. In one individual
it may take the form of the desire to be an ideal mother, in another it may be expressed athletically, and in still
another it may be expressed in painting pictures or in inventions' (Maslow, 1943, p. 382–383).

Psychodynamic Approach
If you know very little about psychology, and you have heard of just one psychologist, the chances are that this
is Sigmund Freud, the founder of the psychodynamic approach to psychology and psychoanalysis.

If Freud represents your layperson's idea of psychology, then you probably have an image of a patient lying on
a couch talking about their deepest and darkest secrets.

In deliberate contrast to behavioral psychology, psychodynamic psychology ignores the trappings of science
and instead focuses on trying to get 'inside the head' of individuals in order to make sense of their relationships,
experiences and how they see the world.

The psychodynamic approach includes all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon the
interaction of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious, and between the different structures
of the personality.

Freud’s psychoanalysis was the original psychodynamic theory, but the psychodynamic approach as a whole
includes all theories that were based on his ideas, e.g. Jung (1964), Adler (1927) and Erikson (1950).

The words psychodynamic and psychoanalytic are often confused. Remember that Freud’s theories were
psychoanalytic, whereas the term ‘psychodynamic’ refers to both his theories and those of his followers.
Freud’s psychoanalysis is both a theory and a therapy.
Sigmund Freud (writing between the 1890s and the 1930s) developed a collection of theories which have
formed the basis of the psychodynamic approach to psychology. His theories are clinically derived - i.e. based
on what his patients told him during therapy. The psychodynamic therapist would usually be treating the patient
for depression or anxiety related disorders.

Psychodynamic Approach Assumptions

* Our behavior and feelings are powerfully affected by unconscious motives.

* Our behavior and feelings as adults (including psychological problems) are rooted in our childhood
experiences.

* All behavior has a cause (usually unconscious), even slips of the tongue. Therefore all behavior is determined.

* Personality is made up of three parts (i.e. tripartite): the id, ego and super-ego.

* Behavior is motivated by two instinctual drives: Eros (the sex drive & life instinct) and Thanatos (the
aggressive drive & death instinct). Both these drives come from the “id”.

* Parts of the unconscious mind (the id and superego) are in constant conflict with the conscious part of the
mind (the ego). This conflict creates anxiety, which could be dealt with by the ego’s use of defence
mechanisms.

* Personality is shaped as the drives are modified by different conflicts at different times in childhood
(during psychosexual development).

History of The Psychodynamic Approach

* Anna O a patient of Dr. Joseph Breuer (Freud's mentor and friend) from 1800 to 1882 suffered from hysteria.

* In 1895 Breuer and his assistant, Sigmund Freud, wrote a book, Studies on Hysteria. In it, they explained their
theory: Every hysteria is the result of a traumatic experience, one that cannot be integrated into the person's
understanding of the world. The publication establishes Freud as “the father of psychoanalysis.”

* By 1896 Freud had found the key to his own system, naming it psychoanalysis. In it, he had replaced hypnosis
with "free association."

* In 1900 Freud published his first major work, The Interpretation of Dreams, which established the importance
of psychoanalytical movement.

* In 1902 Freud founded the Psychological Wednesday Society, later transformed into the Vienna
Psychoanalytic Society. As the organization grew, Freud established an inner circle of devoted followers, the
so-called "Committee" (including Sàndor Ferenczi, and Hanns Sachs (standing) Otto Rank, Karl Abraham, Max
Eitingon, and Ernest Jones).
* Freud and his colleagues came to Massachusetts in 1909 to lecture on their new methods of understanding
mental illness. Those in attendance included some of the country's most important intellectual figures, such as
William James, Franz Boas, and Adolf Meyer.

* In the years following the visit to the United States, the International Psychoanalytic Association was
founded. Freud designated Carl Jung as his successor to lead the Association, and chapters were created in
major cities in Europe and elsewhere. Regular meetings or congresses were held to discuss the theory, therapy,
and cultural applications of the new discipline.

* Jung's (1907) study of schizophrenia, The Psychology of Dementia Praecox, led him into collaboration with
Sigmund Freud.

* Jung's close collaboration with Freud lasted until 1913. Jung had become increasingly critical of Freud's
exclusively sexual definition of libido and incest. The publication of Jung's Wandlungen und Symbole der
Libido (known in English as The Psychology of the Unconscious) ted to a final break.

* Following his emergence from this period of crisis, Jung developed his own theories systematically under the
name of Analytical Psychology. Jung's concepts of thecollective unconscious and the archetypes led him to
explore religion in the East and West, myths, alchemy, and later flying saucers.

* Anna Freud (Freud's daughter) became a major force in British psychology, specializing in the application of
psychoanalysis to children. Among her best known works is The Ego and the Mechanism of defense (1936).

Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis was founded by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud believed that people could be cured by
making conscious their unconscious thoughts and motivations, thus gaining insight. The aim of psychoanalysis
therapy is to release repressed emotions and experiences, i.e. make the unconscious conscious.

Psychoanalysis is commonly used to treat depression and anxiety disorders. It is only having a cathartic (i.e.
healing) experience can the person be helped and "cured".

Psychoanalysis Assumptions
 Psychoanalytic psychologists see psychological problems as rooted in the unconscious mind.
  Manifest symptoms are caused by latent (hidden) disturbances.
 Typical causes include unresolved issues during development or repressed trauma.
 Treatment focuses on bringing the repressed conflict to consciousness, where the client can deal with it.

Freud and Psychoanalysis

Perhaps the most famous name in psychology, Sigmund Freud, introduced psychoanalysis in the late 19th
century. Psychoanalysis is the branch of psychology focuses on treating mental disorders by recognizing the
relationships between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind.
Freud first stumbled across psychoanalysis with the case of 'Anna O.', the patient of his mentor Dr. Joseph Breuer.
When she was 21, Anna O. developed unexplained symptoms, such as paralysis, spasms, loss of the ability to
speak her native language, and hallucinations, and she was diagnosed with hysteria. Breuer and Freud realized
that, when hypnotized, Anna O. could vividly recall the painful repressed memories that caused her symptoms. After
understanding those memories, she was able to overcome some of her symptoms of hysteria.
Some questionable sexual relations between Anna O. and Breuer cut the psychoanalytical study short and led to a
rift between Freud and Breuer; however, the study still provided Freud with the basis for psychoanalysis. His
findings revealed that the emotions linked to traumatic life experiences do not manifest themselves openly but are
hidden in the unconscious mind. These repressed memories, fears, and desires stuck in the unconscious must be
brought up to the conscious so that they no longer need to manifest themselves through symptoms.

Psychoanalytic Therapy
To fully understand psychoanalysis, you must have a firm grasp of the conscious and the unconscious. The
conscious mind holds what you are currently aware of, including accessible memories, thoughts, and perceptions.
Conversely, the unconscious mind contains what the conscious is not aware of, including suppressed desires or
emotions and instincts - it is the source of our motivations, most of which, Freud believed, are sexual in nature.
There is also preconscious, which holds those thoughts and emotions that are not repressed and are not currently
in the conscious, though they are readily available. Freud's theory eventually developed into a three-part system
that holds that the human psyche is comprised of:

 Ego - lies at the visible surface of your personality - what you show to society. It develops with life
experience.
 Id - hidden in your unconscious and is driven by the 'pleasure principle' - the demand to fulfill your biological
needs immediately.
 Superego - also hidden in your unconscious, is made up of the conscience (which helps us distinguish right
from wrong) and the ego-ideal (which contains the ideal view of your self).

Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole.
When trying to make sense of the world around us, Gestalt psychology suggests that we do not
simply focus on every small component.
Instead, our minds tend to perceive objects as part of a greater whole and as elements of more
complex systems. This school of psychology played a major role in the modern development of the
study of human sensation and perception.

A Brief History of Gestalt Psychology

Originating in the work of Max Wertheimer, Gestalt psychology formed partially as a response to the
structuralism of Wilhelm Wundt. While Wundt was interested in breaking down psychological matters
into their smallest possible part, the Gestalt psychologists were instead interested in looking at the
totality of the mind and behavior. The guiding principle behind the Gestalt movement was that the
whole was greater than the sum of its parts.
The development of this area of psychology was influenced by a number of thinkers, including
Immanuel Kant, Ernst Mach and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

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The development of Gestalt psychology was influenced in part by Wertheimer's observations one day
at a train station. He purchased a toy stroboscope which displayed pictures in a rapid sequence to
mimic the appearance of movement. He later proposed the concept of the Phi phenomenon in which
flashing lights in sequence can lead to what is known as apparent motion. In other words, we
perceive movement where there is none. Movies are one example of apparent motion. Through a
sequence of still frames, the illusion of movement is created.

"The fundamental "formula" of Gestalt theory might be expressed in this way,” Max Wertheimer wrote.
"There are wholes, the behaviour of which is not determined by that of their individual elements, but
where the part-processes are themselves determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole. It is the
hope of Gestalt theory to determine the nature of such wholes" (1924).

Major Gestalt Psychologists

 Max Wertheimer
 Kurt Koffka
 Wolfgang Kohler

Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization

Have you ever noticed how a series of flashing lights often appears to be moving, such as neon signs
or strands of Christmas lights? According to Gestalt psychology, this apparent movement happens
because our minds fill in missing information. This belief that the whole is greater than the sum of the
individual parts led to the discovery of several different phenomena that occur during perception.

In order to better understand how human perception works, Gestalt psychologists proposed a number
of different laws of perceptual organization. These include:
 The Law of Similarity
 The Law of Pragnanz
 The Law of Proximity
 The Law of Continuity
 The Law of Closure
The law of similarity suggests that similar items tend to be grouped together. For example, if a
number of objects in a scene are similar to one another, you will naturally group them together and
perceive them as a whole. For example, a series of circles or squares stacked together will be viewed
as a series of columns rather than just individual shapes.

The law of proximity suggests that objects near each other tend to be viewed as a group. If you see a
number of people standing close together, you might immediately assume that they are all part of the
same social group. At a restaurant, for example, the host or hostess might assume that people
seated next to each other in the waiting area are together and ask if they are ready to be seated. In
reality, they may only be sitting near each other because there is little room in the waiting area or
because those were the only open seats.

Gestalt psychology also helped introduce the idea that human perception is not just about what
seeing what is actually present in the world around us. Much of what we perceive is heavily
influenced by our motivations and expectations.
What Is Gestalt Psychology?
Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that believes all objects and scenes can be observed in their simplest
forms. Sometimes referred to as the 'Law of Simplicity,' the theory proposes that the whole of an object or scene is
more important than its individual parts. Observing the whole helps us find order in chaos and unity among
outwardly unrelated parts and pieces of information.
Gestalt psychology proposes a unique perspective on human perception. According to Gestalt psychologists, we
don't just see the world, we actively interpret what we see, depending on what we are expecting to see. A famous
French author, Anaïs Nin, who was not a psychologist, framed that idea in an interesting way: 'We do not see the
world as it is; we see it as we are.'
Gestalt psychology encourages people to 'think outside of the box' and look for patterns. In this lesson, we'll explore
the basic principles of Gestalt psychology and the laws of perceptual organization using examples.

Laws of Perceptual Organization

One of the laws of perceptual organization is that of apparent motion, through which the whole is more important
than the individual parts. When you view an animated cartoon or any kind of film, you'll perceive motion when the
individual frames are strung together. You won't see the individual frames; you'll see action and motion that tells a
story. For example, in a cartoon, a character may run off the edge of the cliff and, for a moment, tread air until he
looks down, sees his situation and then plummets to the floor of a canyon to become a flat coyote, cat or bunny.
In reality, all of this apparent motion is nothing more than a sequence of frames strung together and proof that 'the
whole is greater than the sum of its parts'. In watching the cartoon, we perceive the motion, but we do not perceive
the individual frames that create the illusion of motion.
Some of the other basic laws of perceptual organization include:

 Proximity
 Similarity
 Closure
 Figure vs. ground
 Simplicity