Motivation Theory Literature Review - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 13 Words: 3954 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Psychology Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? INTRODUCTION: Motivation is naturally conceptualized either as an desire arising from within the human being or as an impulse arising from within the organism or as an attraction arising from an object external to the individual. According to Baron (1991) defines motivation as the internal processes that activate, guide, and maintain behaviour especially goal-directed behaviour. Also (Kanfer, 1998) defines as free will element of behaviour and the psychological mechanism governing the direction, intensity, and persistence of action not due solely to individual differences in ability or overwhelming environmental demands that force action. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Motivation Theory Literature Review" essay for you Create order Motivation has been defined as essential to adaptive functioning and quality of life (Marin Chakravorty, 2005), and as the content of the positive thinking one wishes to maintain towards the attainment of an objective (Schweingruber, 2006). According to (kanfer, 1990) states that challenges facing researchers into motivation is that it cannot be seen and most individual see is a multidimensional stream of behaviour and the products of those behaviours. Also states motivational processes can be inferred only from analysis of this continuing stream of behaviour that is determined both by environment and heredity and is observed through their effects on personality, belief, knowledge, abilities and skills. Besides that,(Herzberg,1987)describes movement as a function of fear of punishment or failure to get extrinsic rewards and motivation as a function of growth from getting intrinsic rewards out of interesting and challenging work. Motivation is to be intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is internal. Intrinsic motivation is obvious as the performance of an activity for its inborn satisfaction rather than for some detachable outcome. As soon as, intrinsically motivated, a person is stimulated to take action for the pleasurable or challenge entailed relatively than because of external products, pressures (Ryan et al 2000). It occurs when people are compelled to do something out of pleasure, importance, or desire. Extrinsic motivation occurs when external factors compel the person to do something. Extrinsic motivation is a pull together that pertains whenever an action is done in order to reach some detachable result. (Rayan et al. 2000).Motivation is the driving force within individuals that compels them physiologically and psychologically to pursue one or more goals to fulfil their needs or expectations. (Lam Tang, 2003, p. 61) From my understanding whatever the behaviour, the drive pushing or polling person to act in particular way is motivation and most researchers believe motivation as the drive behind human behaviour. Furthermore, people cannot be motivated to do something if there is nothing in it for them. Obviously, reward may be the avoidance of a negative outcome as much as it may be the achievement of a positive outcome. Motivation theory has to do with why do individual make the choices they make? or what makes someone persist at one activity and yet quickly give up another. Motivation is to give reason, incentive, enthusiasm, or interest that causes a specific action or certain behaviour. Motivation is present in every life function. Simple acts such as eating are motivated by hunger. Education is motivated by desire for knowledge. Motivation is a vital quality that pervades all aspects of teaching and learning. Motivated students display interest in activities, motivated teachers feel that they can help students learn and motivated administrators make possible teaching and learning in their buildings. Self-motivatio n is what most people use to define motivation at its highest mountain of accomplishments. If you are able to motivate yourself and reach your goals, you would have conquered the ability to be disciplined and will accomplish anything you put your mind to. Motivation is very important to all decisions that you have to make. In the workplace, motivation is defined by the actions that employees take to improve the company goals as well as their aspirations for career advancement. The effective performance of employees is what makes or breaks a company. So to keep employees motivated, employers must invest in the overall morale by implementing workshops and seminars to help them. Managers are the key personnel in what makes an employee follow directions. Using rewards like promotions and incentives as well as compliments can greatly improve an employees view of the company and its managers. Employees like to be recognized for their efforts regardless of the salary bracket. Such recognit ion keeps them motivated in getting their job done. Recognition in this case is the motivation technique that managers can tap into and gain the structure over the workplace environment of how they want things done. What organisation and managers can do is provide the environment, support and resources that will influence and effect motivation. Nowadays, managers are trying to find useful motivation theories to motivate their employees. While there are a wide variety of motivation theories on human motivation discussed in this literature review, which means that managers can use any or all those motivation theories to motivate their employees. Managers can use these motivation theories in ways that complement each other. MOTIVATION THEORY-MAJOR CONCEPTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS This is all about the main researchers of motivation theories and to illustrate how these theories can be apply to practical situation. Also reviewed how the major concepts and contributions can apply in work related situations and applying them in groups, teams at organisational level and individual level. Motivation is a complex concept and there are many different theories which look at the subject from different perspectives. The different theories of motivation and criticisms of the theories have been discussed as follows: 1: Hierarchy of needs theory by Maslow A.H. 2: Hygiene theory by Herzberg F. 3: X and Y theory by McGregor D.M. 4: Existence- Relatedness-Growth theory by Alderfer C. P. 5: Expectancy theory by Vroom V. 6: Goal-Setting Theory by Locke E.A. 7: Internal and External control theory by Rotter J.B. 8: Achievement theory by McClelland and Atkinson J.W. 9: Job characteristics theory by Hackman J.R. and Oldham G.R. HIERARCHY OF NEEDS THEORY: According to Maslow (1954) projected that motivation is based on a number of human need. It has to do with the hierarchy that requires the lower more basic needs to be satisfied before the increasingly less basic ones above. Maslow believed that there are five basic needs of the theory. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs is one of the most famous motivation theories, and it has been the centre of much interest by management researchers (Katz, 2004). This (Fig.1) is Maslows hierarchy of needs in pyramid with physiological needs at the base, self-actualisation at the top. 5: Self- actualisation needs: Refer to personal growth and development. 4: Esteem or Ego needs: Refer to need for status and self respect. 3: Social needs: Refer to need to part of a social group and belongingness/love 2: Safety needs: Refer to security, need for shelter or physical danger. 1: Physiological needs: Refer to basic life needs, like food, drink, shelter, etc THE SELF ACTUALISATION NEED: Maslow defined self-actualization as the complete use and utilization of talents, capacities, potentialities. (Maslow,1954). Self-actualization is not a static state. It is an ongoing procedure in which ones capacities are fully, imaginatively, and cheerfully utilized. Self-actualizing people perceive life without a doubt and they are less emotional and more objective. ESTEEM OR EGO NEEDS: According to Maslow, esteem needs were made of two types of desire. I: Desire for strength, adequacy achievement, competence and confidence in the face of organisation. 2: Desire for reputation, glory dominance, recognition, appreciation and dignity Furthermore, people need to be respected, to have self-esteem, self- respect and respect. Self-Esteem expresses the normal human desire to be acknowledged and valued by others. This has to with ones internal needs for self-respect, autonomy and external needs for status and recognition. SOCIAL NEEDS: Are the third level of human needs from the (Fig 1) above. This has to do with ones needs for affection and a sense of belonging and acceptance. Human being need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. They need to love and be loved. According to (Maslow, 1954) include the giving and receiving of affection. SAFETY NEEDS: As soon as peoples physical needs have satisfied, they will chase higher level needs, such as safety needs. Safety needs are determined by the need for security and protection from physical and emotion harm. Safety needs include: personal security, financial security, health and well-being, and a safety net or insurance for accidents/illness and the adverse impacts. PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS: Are the lowest level of needs, from the (Fig 1) above which are the most basic needs for people. Physiological needs are also measured the needs for human survival. If these needs are not met, people cannot continue to function. Physiological needs include: breathing, homeostasis, water, sleep, food, excretion, and sex. According to (Sarah Steve 2002, p175)the theory engrossed criticism regarding its principle that individuals work on satisfying needs at a higher level only once all lower- level needs have been met. Also major problem facing the theory is how to measure needs, both in terms of how powerfully they are felt and of how someone knows they have been met. Furthermore, the theory is not easy to apply directly to work because need are not met through one source. HYGIENE THEORY: According to (Herzberg et al 1959) proposed his Two-Factor Theory of Human Motivation, known as Motivation-Hygiene theory. Hygiene theory is based on the principle that things people come across satisfying in their jobs are not always the opposite of things they find dissatisfying. Herzbergs Two-Factor Theory is based on the results of research into the factors in a workplace that lead to employee satisfaction. Herzberg made use of a survey, titled, What do people want from their jobs? to achieve insights into what workplace factors people perceived as satisfying and dissatisfying. He asked people to describe in detail which workplace factors led to satisfaction and which factors led to dissatisfaction, and then he separated the results and classified them.Fig.2and Fig.3 show the factors that led to extreme satisfaction and dissatisfaction, respectively. Fig.2 Shows Factors that led to extreme satisfaction according to Herzberg Fig.3 shows Factors that led to extreme dissatis faction according to Herzberg According to(Robins 2001) The criticisms facing the theory, is methodology used by Herzberg does not take into account that often, when things are going well, people take the credit themselves, and when things are not , they blame others and their situation. There is on job satisfaction against which the people could rate their job. Also situational factors were not identified. Despite the criticisms the theory is a vital theory of motivation and used by managers to consider hygiene factors with regards to motivation. X and Y THEORY: Based on( McGregor, 1960)reviewed that the relationship between managers and employee could be immensely improved if the assumptions that had develop about how people behaved at work were changed from Theory X view to a Theory Y view. Basically one is positive and the other is negative. THEORY X: was based on scientific management school of thought and projected that enlarged productivity could result from breaking jobs down into small unit of work and giving workers a small range of obviously defined tasks to do. According to (Gray Stark, 1984) Employees do not like to work and want to evade work as much as possible. Employees do not want to take responsibility for the work; managers should take some actions, like convincing and supervising strategies, to help them finishing their mission. Theory X assumed that human actions are dictated by low-level needs, THEORY Y: Was based the predominant theory of management there could be no trust between management and employee. Also Small opportunity for relationship between management and employees in theory .According to (Gray Stark, 1984) employees treat work as entertainment and rest, it is natural. Employees have the ability to make creative decisions, not just managers. Theory Y assumed that human actions are determined by high-level needs. The theory X and Y can influence how motivating factors are regarded within an organisation. Theory X has to do with extrinsic rewards such as pay in order to motivate people to execute good in their job while theory Y has to do with working environment in which employees may discern intrinsic rewards in their job. EXISTENCE RELATEDNESS GROWTH THEORY: This has the similarities to Maslows needs hierarchy. Alderfer C.P. extended and simplified Maslows hierarchy into a shorter set of three needs: Existence, Relatedness and Growth (ERG) Theory. (Alderfer, 1969) EXISTENCE NEEDS: According to (Hollyforde Whiddett 2002) Refers Existence needs as our concern with basic material subsistence motivators and size of how satisfied this need is therefore mostly stated in conditions of what one person has in relation to others. Existence needs, is based on various forms of material and physiological needs. RELATEDNESS NEEDS: Refers to theÂÂ  motivation we have in support of maintaining interpersonal relationships GROWTH NEEDS: Refers to an intrinsic desire for personal development. Relate to personal creativity and productivity. According to (Sarah Steve 2002), the theory does not suggests how a person may meet his or needs .So managers cannot presume that everyones relationship needs will be met in the same way. Also the th eory ERG theory with its three broad categories is maybe easier to deal with than the five levels of need in hierarchy of needs theory. EXPECTANCY THEORY: Vroom suggests that this theory is Based on the principle that people expect particular actions to achieve a desired result and that the desired result is something worth striving for or avoiding. Vroom does not give attention to on needs, but rather focuses on outcomes. According to (Vroom, 1964) identifies two terms the theory. 1. Expectancy: means the stronger the assurance that an act will be followed by particular outcome, the stronger the expectancy is considered to be 2. Valence: Means affective orientations toward particular outcome either positive or negative. Theory expectancy and valence of Vroom concentrated on extrinsic outcomes rather than intrinsic ones. Based on research expectancy and valence are not as distinct from each other as Vroom recommended .And one the key criticisms is that the theory was tested as if it was based on behavioural and attitudinal predictions across rather than within persons. Furthermore, expectancy theory accommodates multiple wor k outcomes in forecasting motivation and predicts motivation to work hard to earn the merit pay will be low if expectancy low (Schermerhorn J. et al 1997) GOAL-SETTING THEORY: The theory is based on the principle that individuals are motivated to achieve the successful accomplishment of challenging goal. According to (Locke, 1968) based his result on three main conclusions. 1: The more hard goals result in higher level of performance than easy goal 2: The specific goals produce higher levels of performance than general goals. 3: The behavioural intentions influence the choices people make. The Goal -Setting theory is helpful to many managers because much of people management is particularly about performance against goals. Theory has great relevance for managers. According to (Robins, 2001) Implies that Goal Setting theory is restricted to those cultures that match the ones in which the research was carried out. INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL THEORY: The theory is based on locus of control. Locus of Control refers to an individuals perception about the underlying main causes of events in his/her life. According to (Rotter, 1966) invented the internal -external dimension to determine locus of control. Based on the extent to which people feel they are in control of the situations that engulfed them and also the extent to which they are convinced of directing events 1. External control: when individual feels that result of his or her actions is as the result of chance, luck as under the powerful others. 2. Internal control: When individual perceives that the occurrence is contingent upon his own behaviour. The Internal and External theory has been criticised for its centre of attention on the Internal-external dimension only as on personality variable .Besides that the theory is useful when considering motivation issues at individual level. ACHIEVEMENT THEORY: The theory is based the needs that can be classed as either Achievement(nAch), Affiliation(nAff) or Power(nPow) .Also theory is based on three factors research into behaviour in achievement-oriented activities. 1: when individual expects to receive unmistakable feedback on the marks of his or her action. 2: When individual feels liable for the outcome success or failure. 3: When individual feels a little level of uncertainty or risk in the activity Achievement theory does not explore why some people enjoyment a challenge and others fear failure. Achievement theory was not specifically about work. The theory is useful when considering why individuals react different to achieving tough goals and why they react to failure in individual ways (Sarah Steve 2002).McClelland recommends that top managers should have a high need for power coupled with a low need for affiliation. Sunil R. Cited (Kreitner kinicki 1998) JOB CHARACTERISTICS THEORY This theory is based on how to design a job so that it is motivating to individual. Also the theory deals with how individual responds to complex and challenging tasks. According to (Hackman Oldham 1976) job characteristics theory proposed that individuals intrinsic motivation is affected by psychological states: 1: Experienced meaningfulness of the work: The extent individuals perceive the job as meaningful and valuable. 2: Experienced responsibility for the outcomes of the work:-the extent individual feels personally accountable and responsible for the outcome of work done. 3: Knowledge of the result of the activities:-the extent individual knows, and understands on continuous basis how successfully he or she is performing the work Also theory has five job dimensions 1: Skill variety-this has to with number of type of skill and talents of individual. 2: Task identity-this has to with work at hand and job completion 3: task significance- this has to with job considerable impact on lives or work of other people. 4: Autonomy -All about individual in setting up the work and determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out. (Freedom and independence at work environment). 5: Feedback-All about individual getting direct and clear result about the effectiveness of his or her performance The theory is one of the few motivation theories specific to an organisational environment and has plenty of practical application. Theory centre of attention is on facilitating0 high internal work motivation. Hackman and Oldman based their theory on motivating individual through job design. CONTRIBUTIONS: According to (Whittington Evans 2005) The Hierarchy of Needs theory proposed by Maslow has been identified as a major influencing factor in the growth of other motivation and management work, such as that of McGregor (Theory X and Theory Y) and Herzberg Motivation-Hygiene theory. It has been generally applied as a basis for much research into, among other things, workforce commitment, job satisfaction and management theory (Stum, 2001). Goal-Setting Theory by Locke has been acknowledged the best goals and dispute facing management environment and Achievement theory by McClelland has identified problems facing motive to achieve success in management work. (Sarah Steve 2002).Expectancy theory has been used to identify job satisfaction, occupational choice, the likelihood of staying in a job, and the effort that one might expand at management work. Internal and External control theory by Rotter has enhanced the concept of persistence (locus of control) in management work. The job ch aracteristics theory relies on workers insight of the job dimensions for the accomplishment of the psychological states that lead to increased motivation. APPLICATION OF THE CONCEPT OF MOTIVATION TO FACILITIES MANAGEMENT Facilities management regularly deals with identifying relations that humans have with their environment. According to (Smith et al., 1997) the rates of pay had very little influence on participants job satisfaction and subsequent work motivation. Some affiliation can be made at this point to Maslows lowest levels of his hierarchy of needs physiological and safety needs. Maslow argued that individuals can only move up the hierarchy of needs to the higher levels of belongingness/love, esteem and finally self-actualisation, once the lower levels had been achieved; however, the results demonstrated in this study suggest that ancillary staff can be motivated and achieve higher levels of Maslows hierarchy without having their physiological and safety needs completely fulfilled. Individuals can only move up the hierarchy of needs to the higher levels of belongingness/love, esteem and finally self-actualisation, once the lower levels had been achieved; on the other hand, the results demo nstrated in this study suggest that facilities managers can motivate their staff and achieve higher levels of Maslows hierarchy without having their physiological and safety needs completely fulfilled. McGregors Theory X and y focused on managements assumptions about employees. Theory X and Y describe the average worker from management perspective and suggest methods by which facilities manager can get the best out of worker. Herzberg studies concentrated on satisfaction at work. Herzberg came to a conclusion that certain factors tended to lead to job satisfaction.(motivators),while others led to frequently to dissatisfaction(Hygiene factors).these factor are related to job context they are concerned with job environment as an extrinsic to the job itself. Shane, S., 2001. Technology opportunities and new firm creation. Management Science 47 9, pp. 1173-1181. LATEST IDEAS ON MOTIVATION THEORY First of all, fields of management background study like leadership, decision making and organization plan persist to develop conceptually speculative developments focusing on work motivation have not held in reserve speed. These changes can have a philosophical manipulate on how companies challenge to attract, retain and motivate their employees in labour market. JOB DESIGN: This is about changing the content or process of job to increase job satisfaction and performance. This is usually easier for new organisational or new business unit. Furthermore, most organisations find themselves designing as the result of organisational change and to motivate their Staff. Job design is relating to job characteristics theory, suggests job should be design in such a way as to maximise intrinsic motivation. (Sarah Steve 2002) EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION: This gives managers strategies, to promotes positive improvement in organizations particularly motivation and performance improvement o f employees. For organization to improve well, messages should be designed in such a way as to maximise motivation. Effective communication strategies have strong effect to motivation of employees. (Sarah Steve 2002) OBJECTIVCE- SETTING: This is important to managers to focus individuals work efforts. It is important to commit employee with goals to motivate them. Most organisations applied Management by Objective (MBO) to motivate their employee. This is relating to Goal-setting, suggests individuals tend to produce higher levels of performance when they have specific goal. (Sarah Steve 2002) MANAGING VIRTUAL TEAMS: Is made of group people who regularly work mutually dependent for joint purpose across time, distance and organization. So motivating people to apply for jobs in virtual teams is one of the latest ideas. CONCULSIONS Motivational techniques, therefore, are useful to teachers, leaders, parents, employers, and almost anyone. The key is in understanding that you are not motivating someone else. Instead, you are simply providing a circumstance that triggers that person to be motivated. However, The developments in motivation and management theory. (Whittington Evans 2005) conclude that the road to building high commitment organisations requires the solid foundation laid by Maslow, McGregor and Herzberg. Motivation theories can therefore offer guidance to anyone interest in motivational issues. Motivation theories discussed above can help mangers consider how and why people are motivated. For example, Hierarchy of need theory may help manager figures out where someone is in term of the satisfaction his or her short and long term needs -which may in turn influence how they seek to create the situation that may be the most motivating. Motivation theories discussed were based on work related environme nts. However the can be applied to help individuals understand human behaviour at work. This literature review also emphasized the important of motivation theories to facilities manager with regards to working environments. Also provide frameworks enable facilities manager to manage their working environment. Finally, one of the challenge facing researchers into motivation, it cannot be seen.

Wine and the French Revolution - 600 Words

The popularity of wine in France continues to be a major mainstay in the French diet, just as it was during the French Revolution. The French Revolution was a devastating time for the French population; many lives were lost during the battle. France is known for, other than the revolution, their production wine (â€Å"French Wine Culture†). Wine has an important role in their culture as well as their position on the social ladder (â€Å"France†). Wine also has a symbolic role in their religion. Therefore, France is a popular country for the making and producing of wine, and has the reputation as the Mother Country (â€Å"French Wine Culture†). Receiving this title did not happen overnight; France has been producing and manufacturing wine for a long period of time. Wine plays roles in many aspects of their society. For example, wine reflects their heritage, region of birth, social status, and their health (â€Å"France†). Wine resembles the differences be tween regions and their national pride (â€Å"France†). Not only does the region reflect their heritage but it also helps determine the name of the wine itself, as does the vineyard they are grown in (â€Å"French Wines†). Most vineyards are very large. They typically cover a good portion of the land, with the exception of the buildings that it is made in. Although France is known at the mother country as a whole, there are still some regions that are more productive and successful at making and distributing wine. Alsace, Beaujolais, andShow MoreRelatedA Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens1420 Words   |  6 PagesThe era surrounding the French Revolution was a horrifically bloody and violent period of history – the best of times and the worst of times. The violence enacted by the citizens of French on their fellow countrymen set a gruesome scene in the cities and country sides of France. 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Britney Spears A Woman I Admire Essay Example For Students

Britney Spears A Woman I Admire Essay There are many women that have an impact on my life; however, the question is how many of them do I look up to? Of course the most obvious person is my very own mother, but that made me think who else deserves to join this circle of reverence. Some names entered my mind, but do I really admire them? It is clear that women that enter my daily life like Oprah Winfrey have an impression on me, but impact and admiration do not always go hand in hand. Then I realized who I really admire: Britney Spears. The teen pop idol singer Britney Spears is a woman that I look up to for many reasons. She has tantalized the entire worlds youth with her incredible voice. By doing so, she serves as a role model for many of the young people growing up in todays society. Although Britney is only 19, she already has had a major effect on a multitude of people. Not only does she reach the eyes of the five year old, but she also influences teenagers and adults alike. There are not many people who you have ac complished this phenomenon, which is why I give her my full respect. Britney is not only a singer, she is a mentor as well. Through her song writing, she has passed along her ideas and life experiences. In her song Dear Diary, Britney gives a personal account of her encounter with a boy. Dear diary/I cant get him off my mind/And it scares me/ Cause Ive never felt this way. Growing up, many of us have to face certain social anxieties and pressures. Through this song, it shows that she also has to deal with these feelings. This is an important message to send because many kids feel alienated growing. This song shows them that they are not the only ones experiencing these feelings. She has helped many people in this way through her singing. I also admire her because it is not easy for her to sing about her personal accounts knowing that she has such a large audience. This shows that she cares about the people she affects; the quality of a true role model. Another instance where this as pect of Britney shines through is in her song, My Only Wish This Year from the album Platinum Christmas. In one part of the song, Britney says, Last night I took a walk in the snow/Couples holding hands, places to go/Seems like everyone but me is in love. This helps many kids with the process of growing up and maturing into adults. She shares her emotions with them which shows them that other people have similar struggles. Through her brilliant writing and singing, Britney has proven to me that she has the true aspects of a role model. She utilizes the influence she has by using it as a medium to give advice. The combination of her amazing voice and her lyrics along with her important messages are what have caused her to bloom into a sensation. In my mind, Britney is a true role model which is why I admire her.

Skin detection free essay sample

IntroductionSkin detection is perhaps the most widely used primitive in human image processing research. Skin detection mostly used as a primary step in various human concerned image processing applications. Skin detection is method of discriminating human skin pixel from non-skin pixels in an image or video [1]. It is one of the prominent research area in human computer interaction, face detection, face tracking [2, 3], gesture recognition [4], computational health informatics, web content filtering and many more. Skin detection is used as a cue for detecting people in real life images. The main challenge is to make skin detection robust to the large variations in appearance that can occur. However, there are various factors that make skin detection challenging. Among them variations in illumination, various ethnicity people with many skin tones, presence or absence of shadows in an image or videos, various background color and objects including wood, cloths and their similarity to skin, human hair with different variations and their resemblance to skin color, using makeup that changes the natural skin color and different camera characteristics make skin detection problem hard. We will write a custom essay sample on Skin detection or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Efficient handling of aforementioned challenges demands a model that is capable of differentiate skin and non-skin pixels. But until now that seems not to be achieved. In this thesis, a skin detection model is proposed which can overcome the challenges and perform better in real world skin detection problem.Researchers have been working tirelessly to find a technique which will be able to detect skin in spite of present challenges. However, Skin detection problem can be considered a binary classification problem, meaning, a pixel can be classified whether it is a skin pixel or not. There are mainly two types of skin detection, either pixel based or region based. In pixel based detection, a pixel is classified compared with its neighbor either as a skin pixel or not. Skin detection that is based on various color spaces are an example for this type of detection. In other hand, region based skin detection focus on spatially arrangement of skin pixel with additional information of intensity and texture. However, Vezhnevets et al. [5], Kakumanu et al. [6], and Phung et al. [7] has conducted surveys about skin color modeling and skin segmentation based on color information in different color spaces. Phung has discovered that skin detection accuracy does not depend on choice of color space or color quantization bin sizes. Besides for skin segmentation a few researchers have also used texture [8, 9, 10] or shape [11] information in combination with color-based methods. Wavelets, contourlets [12, 13], and textons are among the textural features that have been used in conjunction with color cues. Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) received mentionable amount of attractions for image classification and object detection. So, there was some approach to classify and pixel-wise prediction using deep neural network architecture. This CNN method outperforms hand crafted threshold based method. But CNN does not work well defining relationship between pixel and its neighbors. Since skin pixels are located close to each other spatially, CNN lacks the desired performances. For all of this previous work, color cues have provided the dominant source of information. In spite of the emphasis on color-based analysis, a considerable number of applications will benefit from a system that can perform skin detection in the absence of color cues. Moreover, previously mentioned approaches heavily depend on color information that can lead to incorrect detection. Despite of the fact that there are various methods are present, it is tough to pick one which would project good accuracy in various conditions. So, it is worth looking to a new technique for better performance.The purpose of this study is to find a skin detection method which does not relay on any predefined thresholds. A skin detection technique must be robust in spite of varying conditions. Moreover, the proposed technique needs to be tested and experimentally evaluated to establish its reliability. The primary contributions of the work areI. Proposed method take advantage of broad spectrum of LAB color space and separate illumination by considering only A and B components. It ensures the pixels characteristics without being biased of light presenceII. K-means clustering is used for clustering. The main challenge for an unsupervised learning is to automatically define number of clusters. Features in images varied greatly and number of cluster should be defined dynamically. This challenge was solved in this study by considering largest areas of connected objects.III. For region growing, seeding points are crucial. Hence, by clustering further it can be ensuring that seeding points obviously belongs to skin pixels. Moreover, standard deviation of only skin pixels is calculated which group maximum skin pixel and provide correct region of Interest of an image.Chapter 02Literature ReviewIn this section, some related works are discussed that is relevant to the study. The first part is skin detection methods followed by the clustering technique used in this study and a cluster validation index. Various methods have been proposed for skin detection. In term of technical merit, they can be divided into two broad categories- statistical based method and dynamic adaptive method [14, 15]. Statistical method relays on skin features that can be derived from training sample [16]. Researchers first try to get the color features of skin pixels for a skin classifier. This approaches used a threshold for various basic color spaces. Moreover, there are many color space available- Basic color space, perceptual color space, Orthogonal color space and perceptually uniform color spaces.2.1 Color Spaces in Skin DetectionColor space is a 3D space with axes appropriately defined for all possible human perceptions. Among different color spaces, some of them are imaging device depended and not close to human vision. This color spaces are modified for digital applications. However, color is not directly utilized in various skin detection methods but it affect the performance of a skin detection algorithm. Albiol et al. [17] has mathematically showed that, skin detection performance is independent from choice of color space. As mentioned earlier, device depended color spaces are popular among researchers for skin detection.RGB is a color space that is derived from the cathode ray tube display and as the name suggests, it comprise with three color-red, green and blue. Brand, J and Mason [18] , Jones and Regh [19], Caetano and Barone[20], Oliver et al. [21], Kim et al. [22], Schwerdt and Crowley [23], Sebe et al. [24], Storring et al. [25],Wang and Sung [26], Yang and Ahuja [27],Yang et al. [28] , used RGB color space for skin detection. But high correlations between channels is a drawback of this color space with mixing chrominance and luminance portion. However, some approaches take the advantage of normalized RGB. In normalized RGB, all the channel valus are normalized. As the sum of all the channels are known, then the third component can be avoided. This technique reduces space dimensionality. Brightness of source RGB deeply depends on red and green channel and normalization can separate it. So, for matte surface the ambient light can be ignored and normalized RGB remain constant for the changes in surface [29]. These advantages attract many researchers on color space based skin detections [30, 31]. But normalized RGB color space suffers from uneven illuminations. CIE (Commission Internationale de lEclairage) system represent the color space with Y as luminance. CIE-XYZ was developed from a psychological experiment and it is close to human visual system [32].Besides, various device dependent color spaces are used for TV transmission and digital photography. The orthogonal color space family includes well-known color spaces such as YCbCr, YCgCr, YDbDr, YPbPr, YIQ and YUV. In these color spaces, unlike the RGB, the luminance channel is separated from chrominance resulting a very tight pseudo-ellipse skin cluster. Due to the particular features of these color spaces such as separation of luminance-chrominance channels, relatively simple RGB conversion and relatively tight skin cluster, orthogonal color models have been frequently used in skin segmentation [33-36]. Perceptual color spaces such as HSI, HSV, HSB, HSL and TSL are very attractive color spaces in skin detection literature. In these color models, each pixel is presented by Hue (tint or color), Intensity (lightness) and Saturation associated with physiological feeling of human [37].An artist idea of using saturation, tint and tone was taken into account. These concepts introduce HSV color space where hue (H) defines the most dominant color of a concern area, saturation represent colorfulness with respect to brightness. However, intensity, lightness or value/ variance defines luminance. The capability of intuitive of color components and ability to distinguish between luminance and chrominance make it popular for skin detection. HSV color space is used by Garcia and Tziritas [38], McKenna et al. [39], Saxe and Foulds, [40], Sobottka and Pitas [41], Thu et al. [42], Wang and Yuan [43], Zhu et al. [44]. Various characteristics of hue- invariant to highlights at white light sources, matte surfaces to ambient light and surface orientation for light source was discussed at [45]. However, Poynton [46] mentions some shortcomings like- discontinuation of hue and brightness computation complexity with color vision properties. Moreover, logarithmic transformation based HS named as Fleck HS introduced by Fleck and used by Zarit [47] .A similar color space named as TSL-tint, saturation and Lightness.