Give a brief account of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. What criticisms could be levelled at this idea? What would you see as a major practical relevance of Maslows thinking?

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) carried out his investigations into human behaviour between 1939 and 1943.  Maslow suggested that there are goals that may be called basic needs.  He arranged these into a series of different levels or the order of importance of these basic needs.  Maslows theory came into his consciousness through his early experiments with monkeys.  He noticed that they, as with humans, tended to prioritise their actions according to their requirements.  For example, if you are hungry or thirsty, you will tend to take care of your thirst first, food second, and anything else after that, as you can live without food longer than without water.  He took these ideas and formed his hierarchy of needs from it….(short extract)