A DYNAMIC ATTENTION-BASED MODEL OF HUMAN NEEDS: INTEGRATING SUBJECTIVE INTENSITY AND EVOLUTIONARY URGENCY

This paper presents a novel theoretical framework for understanding human needs that transcends the limitations of hierarchical models. Unlike Maslow's rigid pyramid, our Dynamic Attention Based Model (DABM) proposes that human needs function as competing signals for cognitive attention, with their urgency determined by both evolutionary priority and subjective intensity. We introduce nine fundamental need categories that operate simultaneously rather than sequentially, each associated with distinct neurobiological pathways. The model makes a critical ontological distinction between needs (abstract psychological states), actions (behavioral responses), and objects (satisfiers), resolving longstanding conceptual ambiguities in motivation theory. We present the Integrated Needs Hierarchy (INH) assessment tool, propose three empirical validation studies, and address theoretical and practical implications. This framework offers a more dynamic, culturally sensitive, and neurobiologically grounded understanding of human motivation than existing theories.