screencasting software

CamStudio is a screencasting program for Microsoft Windows released as free software. The software renders videos in an AVI format. It can also convert these AVIs into Flash Video format, embedded in SWF files. CamStudio is written in C++, but CamStudio 3 will be developed in C#.
CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files and using its built-in SWF Producer can turn those AVIs into lean, mean, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWFs)You can download and use it completely free – yep – completely 100% free for your personal and commercial projects as CamStudio and the Codec are released under the GPL.

Source:

SplitCam webcam software. Why do I need to use it?

SplitCam webcam software offers cool webcam effects for having more positive emotions during video calls with your friends! Additionally SplitCam is the easiest way to split your webcam video stream. With SplitCam you can video chat with all your friends, SplitCam is also live video streaming software – stream your video to any IMs and video services and all this at the same time! Мore info…

 

music production Dr Drum. Basically this program does what $1500 programs do but costs only $29. That’s a steal. And I have to say it’s the easiest program to learn. Check it out here: http://www.doctordrum.pw

a comparison of notable screencasting software, used to record activities on the computer screen. This software is commonly used for desktop recording, gameplay recording and video editing. Screencasting software is typically limited to streaming and recording desktop activity alone, in contrast with a software vision mixer, which has the capacity to mix and switch the output between various input streams.

ScreenCam (formerly Lotus/IBM ScreenCam) is a Screencast tool for Microsoft Windows that is used to author software demonstrations, software simulations, branched scenarios, and tutorials in .swf (also known as Adobe Flash) format. ScreenCam was primarily targeted at users who need to create video-oriented instructional materials who were not multimediaauthors or video capture technicians.[1] It was very easy to use, having a ‘VCR-like’ interface and requiring no knowledge of digital video editing, or the concept of ‘frames’ of a movie, because it used a different paradigm for creating the screen movies. It can also be used for creation of screencasts and conversion of Microsoft PowerPoint presentations to the Adobe Flash format.[2]

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* Super ease-of-use, like a camcorder: Get started in seconds with the EZ Control Panel – it works just like a Camcorder – Hitting Stop, Record and Pause are familiar and powerful ways to control ScreenCam’s powerful capture engine.

Debut Video Capture Software

Record video from a webcam, recording device or screen

Capture video files on your Mac or PC with this easy video recorder software.

Powerful, yet easy-to-use, Camtasia helps you create professional videos without having to be a video pro. Easily record your on-screen activity or import HD camera video, customize and edit content, and share your videos with viewers on nearly any device.

CamStudio 2.7

CamStudio records screen with audio: Camstudio is a pretty straight-forward video capture software application which does exactly what it says.
1.3 MB | For WindowsFree
CamStudio Review – Video Capture Software Download

iSpy 6.1.9.0

Free video capture software perfect for CCTV, webcam capture and home surveillance: iSpy is a free video capture tool which works well with webcams and other input devices connected to your computer.
12.78 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPFree
iSpy Review – Video Capture Software Download

Active Webcam 11.6

Software to capture webcam video: Active WebCam captures images up to 20 frames per second from any Video Camera or USB Camera and broadcasts them either from your computer or through any FTP server.
11.65 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
Active Webcam Review – Video Capture Software Download

Camtasia Studio 8.4.0

Camtasia is powerful video recording software for creating polished videos with all of the bells and whistles which should be expected at such a price.
247 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware

AMCap 9.21

AMCap is a webcam video capture program which records what your webcam sees and saves it directly to your hard drive.
0.29 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
AMCap Webcam Capture Review – Video Capture Software Download

SplitCam 5.4.6.0.

Multi-video Capture: SplitCam – virtual video capture driver allows for connecting several applications to a single video capture source.
49.43 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPFree
SplitCam Review – Video Capture Software Download

WinAVI Video Capture 2.0

Capture video from VHS, Webcam, DVD, etc.: WinAVI Video Capture is recording software that captures from your Audio/Video device like Blu-ray & DVD players, VHS players connected to your capture card and webcams.
2.73 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XP / NTShareware
WinAVI Video Capture Review – Video Capture Software Download

Fraps 3.5.99.15619

Advanced video capture tool, ideal for recording video games: Fraps is a multi-faceted application which works on almost all versions of Windows including Windows 7 64-bit.
2.2MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPFree
Fraps Review – Video Capture Software Download

Debut Video Capture 1.94

Free Video Capture Software: Debut Video Capture is a freeware (with restrictions) application which provides a number of options for capturing video from a variety of sources, the most used probably being the screen capture tool which allows you to either record your entire screen or a specific region of it.
1.4 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPFree
Debut Video Capture Review – Video Capture Software Download

Taksi 0.7.7.9

Taksi Recorder is a free video capture and desktop recording program: Taksi, originally inspired by “Fraps” (fraps.
0.25 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XP / NTFree
Taksi Review – Video Capture Software Download

Easy WebCam Recording 2.1

Capture webcam videos to a file: Developed by the French, this program simply records the video it captures from your PC webcam and saves it to a file specified in the setup.
0.15 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPFree
Easy WebCam Recording Review – Video Capture Software Download

ChrisTV Professional 6.00

Provides video recording functionality for installed TV capture cards: ChrisTV is a Digital PVR that empowers users to take full control over TV capture cards, particularly those with WDM drivers already installed.
3.72 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
ChrisTV Professional Review – Video Capture Software Download

IP Camera Viewer 1.34

Set up a free IP camera monitoring system within minutes with IP Camera Viewer.
5.88 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPFree

H264 WebCam 3.99

A motion detection webcam and surveillance application program: H264 WebCam is a video surveillance program which supports a very long list of different cameras, with extensive support for different brands of webcams.
4.88 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
H264 WebCam Deluxe Review – Video Capture Software Download

MyCam 1.1

MyCam is a webcam capture program by Chinese company e2eSoft.
1.89 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPFree
MyCam Review – Video Capture Software Download

CAM Wizard 10.15

The best CCTV software, turns any Vista/XP PC and webcam into a full motion detection, CCTV camera & VCR system.
7.59 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XPShareware

Bandicam 2.0.0.638

Screen video recording software which can record a defined area: Bandicam is a video and screen capturing utility designed especially for video gamers and YouTube LPers.
6.23 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
Bandicam Review – Video Capture Software Download

Camera Plus 2.0 Gold

Camera Plus offers an integrated suite of 8 MPEG video applications to PC Camera owners.
57.19 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XP / NTShareware

Surveillance Digital Video Recorder 4.0

Argus DVR is a video capturing program which works with USB cameras, IP cameras and video capture cards.
19.27 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XP / NTShareware
Surveillance Digital Video Recorder Review – Video Capture Software Download

Open Video Capture 1.2.9.9

Capture video from Webcam, TV Tuners, DV and more: Open Video Capture is video capture software which can record video snapshots from TV Tuner cards, digital cameras (like Sony, Canon and Nikon), Camcorders, Video Input, VHS and digital video.
0.63 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
Open Video Capture Review – Video Capture Software Download

CoffeeCup WebCam 3.0

Easily capture from your webcam: CoffeeCup WebCam allows you to add live Webcam images to your Web site, quickly and easily.
10.74 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware

ContaCam 4.9.5

ContaCam is a Free Video Surveillance software and Live Webcam solution for Windows.
13.1 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPFree

Easy Video Capture 1.30.05

Easy Video Capture is a tool for recording your screen into AVI video.
0.57 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
Easy Video Capture Review – Video Capture Software Download

oCam 22.0

oCam is a screen recording application which, apart from supporting basic Windows applications, isn’t really suitable for anything more than slideshows or tutorials.
5.79 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XPFree
oCam Review – Video Capture Software Download

FastCap 1.4.7

FastCap is a smart PC game and movie recorder to record and compress video and audio on the fly while you are playing them!
1.24 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XP / NTShareware

Free Screen Video Recorder 2.5.31.1125

To date, Free Screen Video Recorder is probably one of the best freeware video capture applications which we have had the pleasure of testing out.
18.44 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPFree
Free Screen Video Recorder Review – Video Capture Software Download

HyperCam 2.28.01

Capture audio and video from a PC screen: HyperCam is a freeware video desktop capturing tool which can capture actions from your Windows 7 desktop by following cursor movements along with video panning with support for annotations (subtitles).
0.95 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPFree
HyperCam Review – Video Capture Software Download

Dxtory 2.0.126

Dxtory is a movie capture tool only for DirextX/OpenGL application.
2.9 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XPShareware

Digital Video Recorder 1.18

This version of Digital Video Recorder is a video capturing program designed to record from digital camera video streaming to AVI.
1.23 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XP / NTShareware
Digital Video Recorder Review – Video Capture Software Download

Xeoma 14.5.19

Xeoma is free video surveillance software which provides video surveillance solution with construction-set principle and unlimited flexibility.
14.92 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPFree

Webcam Surveyor 2.4.1

Webcam Surveyor is complete software that combines video surveillance and video capture tools.
3.02 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware

ChrisTV Standard 6.00

A personal video recorder application for TV cards: ChrisTV Standard is a Personal Video Recorder (or PVR) for the PC which takes advantage of the unique features of a TV card.
3.65 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
ChrisTV Standard Review – Video Capture Software Download

WebCam Monitor 3.27

Webcam Video Capture Software: remotely view the activity from your camera: WebCam Monitor is a free webcam capture program which serves as an ideal solution to keep an eye on whatever your webcam is recording from anywhere in the world.
4.93 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XP / NTFree
WebCam Monitor Review – Video Capture Software Download

TinCam 1.08

Webcam capture utility: Create a webpage with live pictures or video from your webcam.
5.03 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
TinCam Review – Video Capture Software Download

CamUniversal 4.9.1.2

Webcam video capture software with tons of different features.
1.97 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
CamUniversal Review – Video Capture Software Download

Desktop Activity Recorder 2.00

Desktop Activity Recorder records PC screen activity to AVI or Flash files.
1.0 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XPFree

3D Cam Video Capture 3.8

3D anaglyph capture from your web cam: HeavyMath Cam 3D is the only webcam software which enables you to record 3D anaglyph stereo video from two webcams.
3.81 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
HeavyMath Cam 3D Review – Video Capture Software Download

BB FlashBack 4.1.4.2665

Screen recording application for Windows: BB FlashBack Screen Recorder is a very easy-to-use screen capturing program designed mainly for creating simple presentations by recording your screen.
11.32 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
BB FlashBack Review – Video Capture Software Download

Willing Webcam 5.53

Willing Webcam is a simple, yet fully-featured webcam software designed to help you capture streaming video and snapshots and publish them on your website.
6.03 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware

CamGuard Security System 4.1.14

CamGuard Security System turns your PC with WebCam into an advanced Video Security and Surveillance System.
6.16 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XP / NTShareware

CamDVR 2.1.1.0

CamDVR is a Digital Video Recording software designed to work with all kind of video devices and to do a wide range of tasks.
4.8 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware

Growler Guncam 3.2.4.0

A game recording video capture tool, Growler Cuncam can create videos from various games being played and also supports recording of other types of applications.
1.59 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XP / NTShareware
Growler Guncam Review – Video Capture Software Download

VCatcher 3.90

Just surf the Internet and watch a video.
29.3 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XPFree

HandyAvi 5.0

Use any webcam to make time-lapse, motion-detect, meteor trail, planetary or animation movies.
6.56 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware

CamServer 2.0

Webcam Capturing Program: CamServer is a neat little surveillance program which lets users capture and record cameras from a local or even a remote location over the Internet.
419KB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XPFree
CamServer Review – Video Capture Software Download

STOIK Capturer 1.0

Capture video from any device such as VCRs, DVB-T, webcam or other input devices: STOIK Capturer is a free and portable video capturing program which takes advantage of your current Windows display adapter driver.
0.23 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XP / NTFree
STOIK Capturer Review – Video Capture Software Download

AimOne Screen Recorder 1.31

AimOne Screen Recorder is a powerful video-recording software, allows you record the full screen, window or fixed-region to AVI or WMV files, You can even record audio into the video file, from any source including the microphone, line-in, or speakers.
1.14 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XP / NTShareware

Screenpresso 1.5.1

Simply screenshot or video capture part of the screen or a specific window with the same shortcut.
74.22 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPFree

Webcam Video Capture 5.480

Software to capture video from a variety of sources, including webcams: To be quite honest, Webcam Video Capture is a pretty low value product which promises to record video from webcam sources, yet doesn’t always pull it off with many users reporting issues with being asked to upgrade to versions which are either non-existent or simply not yet released.
6.57 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 (64-bit, 32-bit) / Vista / XPShareware
Webcam Video Capture Review – Video Capture Software Download

RGS-AvaCam 3.6.5

RGS-AvaCam is a free program for capturing screenshots from your webcam or other camera devices connected to your PC and recognized by the program.
1.04 MB | For Windows 7, Windows 8 / Vista / XPFree
RGS AvaCam Review – Video Capture Software Download

改善

Kaizen (改善?)Japanese for “improvement” or “change for the best”, refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, business management or any process. It has been applied in healthcare,[1]psychotherapy,[2] life-coaching, government, banking, and other industries. When used in the business sense and applied to the workplace, kaizen refers to activities that continually improve all functions, and involves all employees from the CEO to the assembly line workers. It also applies to processes, such as purchasing and logistics, that cross organizational boundaries into the supply chain.[3] By improving standardized activities and processes, kaizen aims to eliminate waste (seelean manufacturing). Kaizen was first implemented in several Japanese businesses after the Second World War, influenced in part by American business and quality management teachers who visited the country. It has since spread throughout the world[4] and is now being implemented in environments outside of business and productivity.

RIGHTWARDS ARROW

 

Unicode Character ‘RIGHTWARDS ARROW’ (U+2192)

 

Unicode Data
Name RIGHTWARDS ARROW
Block Arrows
Category Symbol, Math [Sm]
Combine 0
BIDI Other Neutrals [ON]
Mirror N
Old name RIGHT ARROW
Index entries function, total
RIGHTWARDS ARROW
total function
ARROW, RIGHTWARDS
Comments z notation total function
Version Unicode 1.1.0 (June, 1993)
Encodings
HTML Entity (decimal) →
HTML Entity (hex) →
HTML Entity (named) →
How to type in Microsoft Windows Alt +2192
UTF-8 (hex) 0xE2 0x86 0x92 (e28692)
UTF-8 (binary) 11100010:10000110:10010010
UTF-16 (hex) 0x2192 (2192)
UTF-16 (decimal) 8,594
UTF-32 (hex) 0x00002192 (2192)
UTF-32 (decimal) 8,594
C/C++/Java source code “\u2192”
Python source code u”\u2192″
More…
Java Data
string.toUpperCase()
string.toLowerCase()
Character.UnicodeBlock ARROWS
Character.charCount() 1
Character.getDirectionality() DIRECTIONALITY_OTHER_NEUTRALS [13]
Character.getNumericValue() -1
Character.getType() 25
Character.isDefined() Yes
Character.isDigit() No
Character.isIdentifierIgnorable() No
Character.isISOControl() No
Character.isJavaIdentifierPart() No
Character.isJavaIdentifierStart() No
Character.isLetter() No
Character.isLetterOrDigit() No
Character.isLowerCase() No
Character.isMirrored() No
Character.isSpaceChar() No
Character.isSupplementaryCodePoint() No
Character.isTitleCase() No
Character.isUnicodeIdentifierPart() No
Character.isUnicodeIdentifierStart() No
Character.isUpperCase() No
Character.isValidCodePoint() Yes
Character.isWhitespace() No

Speech synthesis

Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware products. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal language text into speech; other systems render symbolic linguistic representations like phonetic transcriptions into speech.[1]

Synthesized speech can be created by concatenating pieces of recorded speech that are stored in a database. Systems differ in the size of the stored speech units; a system that stores phones or diphones provides the largest output range, but may lack clarity. For specific usage domains, the storage of entire words or sentences allows for high-quality output. Alternatively, a synthesizer can incorporate a model of the vocal tract and other human voice characteristics to create a completely “synthetic” voice output.[2]

The quality of a speech synthesizer is judged by its similarity to the human voice and by its ability to be understood. An intelligible text-to-speech program allows people with visual impairments or reading disabilities to listen to written works on a home computer. Many computer operating systems have included speech synthesizers since the early 1990s.

Overview of a typical TTS system

A text-to-speech system (or “engine”) is composed of two parts:[3] a front-end and a back-end. The front-end has two major tasks. First, it converts raw text containing symbols like numbers and abbreviations into the equivalent of written-out words. This process is often called text normalization, pre-processing, or tokenization. The front-end then assigns phonetic transcriptions to each word, and divides and marks the text into prosodic units, like phrases, clauses, and sentences. The process of assigning phonetic transcriptions to words is called text-to-phoneme or grapheme-to-phoneme conversion. Phonetic transcriptions and prosody information together make up the symbolic linguistic representation that is output by the front-end. The back-end—often referred to as the synthesizer—then converts the symbolic linguistic representation into sound. In certain systems, this part includes the computation of the target prosody (pitch contour, phoneme durations),[4] which is then imposed on the output speech.

Here is a non-exhaustive comparison of speech synthesis programs


Festival offers a general framework for building speech synthesis systems as well as including examples of various modules. As a whole it offers full text to speech through a number APIs: from shell level, though a Scheme command interpreter, as a C++ library, from Java, and an Emacs interface. Festival is multi-lingual (currently English (British and American), and Spanish) though English is the most advanced. Other groups release new languages for the system. And full tools and documentation for build new voices are available through Carnegie Mellon’s FestVox project (http://festvox.org)

The system is written in C++ and uses the Edinburgh Speech Tools Library for low level architecture and has a Scheme (SIOD) based command interpreter for control. Documentation is given in the FSF texinfo format which can generate, a printed manual, info files and HTML.

Festival is free software. Festival and the speech tools are distributed under an X11-type licence allowing unrestricted commercial and non-commercial use alike.


Text to Speech engine for English and many other languages. Compact size with clear but artificial pronunciation. Available as a command-line program with many options, a shared library for Linux, and a Windows SAPI5 version.

eSpeak is a compact open source software speech synthesizer for English and other languages, for Linux and Windows.   http://espeak.sourceforge.net

eSpeak uses a “formant synthesis” method. This allows many languages to be provided in a small size. The speech is clear, and can be used at high speeds, but is not as natural or smooth as larger synthesizers which are based on human speech recordings.

eSpeak is available as:

  • A command line program (Linux and Windows) to speak text from a file or from stdin.
  • A shared library version for use by other programs. (On Windows this is a DLL).
  • A SAPI5 version for Windows, so it can be used with screen-readers and other programs that support the Windows SAPI5 interface.
  • eSpeak has been ported to other platforms, including Android, Mac OSX and Solaris.

Features.

  • Includes different Voices, whose characteristics can be altered.
  • Can produce speech output as a WAV file.
  • SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language) is supported (not complete), and also HTML.
  • Compact size. The program and its data, including many languages, totals about 2 Mbytes.
  • Can be used as a front-end to MBROLA diphone voices, see mbrola.html. eSpeak converts text to phonemes with pitch and length information.
  • Can translate text into phoneme codes, so it could be adapted as a front end for another speech synthesis engine.
  • Potential for other languages. Several are included in varying stages of progress. Help from native speakers for these or other languages is welcome.
  • Development tools are available for producing and tuning phoneme data.
  • Written in C.

Hierarchy of needs

Beginnings: Psychology without a soul

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the dominant throries in psychology had been the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud and thebehaviourism of J. B. Watson and B. F. Skinner.

Both had tended to portray human beings as faulty machines.

  • In Freud’s view, human beings were almost entirely driven by primitive urges like sex and aggression. These ever-present impulses must be managed if we are to live together in civilized society. This leaves many people hopelessly conflicted at an unconscious level. A miserable, unfulfilled existence is unavoidable.
  • In the behaviourists’ view, human beings are like oversized lab rats —  programmed or conditioned to behave the way they do by factors outside of their control. They have no mind, no will of their own. Their feelings are not real and therefore do not matter. People are simply programmable machines who can be manipulated into doing anything.

In their different ways, psychoanalysis and behaviourism had dehumanized our understanding of ourselves and what it means to be human. In the middle of the century which had brought us Nazism, Communism, mechanized warfare, systematic genocide and Mutually Assured Destruction, psychology was unintentionally providing a scientific “justification” for such horrors.

These rather bleak, soul-less visions of human nature constituted the first two “waves” of psychology as a science.

Abraham Harold Maslow (April 1, 1908 – June 8, 1970) was an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization.[2] Maslow was a psychology professor at Brandeis UniversityBrooklyn CollegeNew School for Social Research andColumbia University. He stressed the importance of focusing on the positive qualities in people, as opposed to treating them as a “bag of symptoms.”[3]

1024px-Maslow's_Hierarchy_of_Needs.svg

Maslow described human needs as ordered in a prepotent hierarchy—a pressing need would need to be mostly satisfied before someone would give their attention to the next highest need. None of his published works included a visual representation of the hierarchy. The pyramidal diagram illustrating the Maslow needs hierarchy may have been created by a psychology textbook publisher as an illustrative device. This now iconic pyramid frequently depicts the spectrum of human needs, both physical and psychological, as accompaniment to articles describing Maslow’s needs theory and may give the impression that the Hierarchy of Needs is a fixed and rigid sequence of progression. Yet, starting with the first publication of his theory in 1943, Maslow described human needs as being relatively fluid—with many needs being present in a person simultaneously.[38]

The hierarchy of human needs model suggests that human needs will only be fulfilled one level at a time.[39]

According to Maslow’s theory, when a human being ascends the levels of the hierarchy having fulfilled the needs in the hierarchy, one may eventually achieve self-actualization. Late in life, Maslow came to conclude that self-actualization was not an automatic outcome of satisfying the other human needs[40][41]

Human needs as identified by Maslow:

  • At the bottom of the hierarchy are the “Basic needs or Physiological needs” of a human being: food, water, sleep and sex.
  • The next level is “Safety Needs: Security, Order, and Stability”. These two steps are important to the physical survival of the person. Once individuals have basic nutrition, shelter and safety, they attempt to accomplish more.
  • The third level of need is “Love and Belonging”, which are psychological needs; when individuals have taken care of themselves physically, they are ready to share themselves with others, such as with family and friends.
  • The fourth level is achieved when individuals feel comfortable with what they have accomplished. This is the “Esteem” level, the need to be competent and recognized, such as through status and level of success.
  • Then there is the “Cognitive” level, where individuals intellectually stimulate themselves and explore.
  • After that is the “Aesthetic” level, which is the need for harmony, order and beauty.[42]
  • At the top of the pyramid, “Need for Self-actualization” occurs when individuals reach a state of harmony and understanding because they are engaged in achieving their full potential.[43] Once a person has reached the self-actualization state they focus on themselves and try to build their own image. They may look at this in terms of feelings such as self-confidence or by accomplishing a set goal.[4]

The first four levels are known as Deficit needs or D-needs. This means that if you do not have enough of one of those four needs, you will have the feeling that you need to get it. But when you do get them, then you feel content. These needs alone are not motivating.[4]

Maslow wrote that there are certain conditions that must be fulfilled in order for the basic needs to be satisfied. For example, freedom of speech, freedom to express oneself, and freedom to seek new information[44] are a few of the prerequisites. Any blockages of these freedoms could prevent the satisfaction of the basic needs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs has been subject to internet memes over the past few years. Specifically looking at the recent integration of technology in our lives.

Criticisms of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

While some research showed some support for Maslow’s theories, most research has not been able to substantiate the idea of a needs hierarchy. Wahba and Bridwell reported that there was little evidence for Maslow’s ranking of these needs and even less evidence that these needs are in a hierarchical order.

Other criticisms of Maslow’s theory note that his definition of self-actualization is difficult to test scientifically. His research on self-actualization was also based on a very limited sample of individuals, including people he knew as well as biographies of famous individuals that Maslow believed to be self-actualized, such as Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt. Regardless of these criticisms, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs represents part of an important shift in psychology. Rather than focusing on abnormal behavior and development, Maslow’s humanistic psychology was focused on the development of healthy individuals.

While there was relatively little research supporting the theory, hierarchy of needs is well-known and popular both in and out of psychology. In a study published in 2011, researchers from the University of Illinois set out to put the hierarchy to the test. What they discovered is that while fulfillment of the needs was strongly correlated with happiness, people from cultures all over the reported that self-actualization and social needs were important even when many of the most basic needs were unfulfilled.

7 steps to securing Java

Java, the popular OS-independent platform and programming language, runs on just about every kind of electronic device imaginable, including computers, cell phones, printers, TVs, DVDs, home security systems, automated teller machines, navigation syste…

Java, the popular OS-independent platform and programming language, runs on just about every kind of electronic device imaginable, including computers, cell phones, printers, TVs, DVDs, home security systems, automated teller machines, navigation systems, games and medical devices.