have you ever tried to take a test when you're hungry?  Hi my name's Matt and this is simply
psyc
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It's hard to focus on anything else when
you're hungry, isn't it
 actually I could go for some cake right
about now
The reason for this is probably more
significant than you think,
and it's grounded in the humanistic
theory
of motivation proposed by psychologist
Abraham Maslow.  Let's get into this!
The heirarchy have needs was proposed by
Abraham Maslow  
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As a humanist Abraham Maslow was
very intent on understanding
the issue of the self.  The focus of
humanistic psychology
is to understand just how humans are
different than other entities on this
planet
other animals.  We focus on the self.
The self is a very important
component to understanding our psychology.  See,
behaviorists like Pavlov and Skinner
they could use classical conditioning and
learning techniques to teach
animals to do anything, you teach your
dog to sit
the dog will sit as long as you give it
a little reward a little treat
afterwards.
the same could be true in talking with
kids. Give a child
ice cream cone you can get that kid to
do pretty much anything, but
as they age and as they grow older kids
become adults
and they are significantly different
than other animals they have
a will meaning they have the freedom to
choose to act however they want to act
and they understand that just because
you might be
asking them to do something like sit or
do their homework
doesn't mean that they have to, they can
choose
for themselves to be different this
issue of the self is extremely important
to Maslow and to all other humanists, to
the point that Maslow
understood that our behavior
was primarily based upon how we meet
our needs in life.  Each individual self
has needs.  And those selfs are motivated
to meet those needs.  The meeting those
needs determines our personality
and the terms the kind of behavior that
will show.  Maslow explained his theory
of the heirarchy if need using
illustration a pyramid,
and within that pyramid are different
levels of needs.
the very base level of needs are the most
important needs.
The peak of the pyramid contains those
needs that are the least important
to the person's behavior yet the most
important to the contribution in society.
At the fundamental base level we have
biological needs.
Biological needs consist of things like
sleeping
and eating and drinking and having sex
and things like that are necessary for
life
are necessary for survival. Now we must
focus on these biological needs if we
are to make it to the next level that
needs.
A starving person's first thing that
they think about in the morning
is where do I get some food.
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the next level of needs is what Maslow
called safety needs
that is, safety and protection the idea
here is that
after we have our biological needs met
we are looking for a way to be safe
from the world around us from the
predators that might be out there.
For instance we look for shelter, a home
a place to live.
We look for other ways to protect
ourselves and our family.
very important component to
understanding on our needs
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The third level is based upon biological
and safety needs those are our love needs  
LOVE- we all want to be loved, don't we?
These love needs are really focused on
an idea of community in companionship.
Finally other people that we can exist
with and build relationships with
so people like our family our our church
or yes
a husband or a wife for a boyfriend or
girlfriend.  These love needs are probably
the most important needs according to
Maslow.
Most people focus on trying to get these
needs met.
Which is why every movie what seems to
be about love. Every song we listen to
on the radio seems to be about love
unless country, then it's about beer
or something else. . .  anyway
the point is is that love is one of the
most important needs
that we as humans look for.
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Now if we are able to get that need met
meaning if we are
able to find someone to fill that love
need of ours
the next step is filling our need for
self-esteem.
the need to feel good about oneself the
need of liking ourselves
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Self-esteem is not a bunch of fluffy
clouds and everybody getting a trophy.
self-esteem is about
experiencing and achieving things in
life and as we succeed
we learn to like ourselves even love
ourselves
and develop a healthy self-esteem. 
the final level of needs the peek of our pyramid is what Maslow called self
actualization.  Self actualization is
the realizeation of ones
fullest potential.  Someone who is a self
actualized
person has all the other needs totally
and completely met.
they no longer have biological needs,
safety needs, love needs, self esteem
needs
they are a full person.  By being self actualized this allows them then
to work for the benefit a society so
they develop concepts like
self-awareness understanding and care
and
honesty.  Some examples are people like Gandhi
or the poet Maya Angelou.
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The hierarchy of needs provides us with the
structure of how we can reach our
fullest potential in life.
and though only very few people actually
reach self actualization
it doesn't mean we should stop trying.
Lets take a seat.
Maslow's theories have been applied
outside of psychology in fields such as
business and education
in political science and this allowed
him to climb his own mountain of
potential
and solidify his legacy and
understanding psychology
til next time.
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Where is Simmons? What is that?
Simmons!
where have you been? -simmons- 42
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