Question

compare the student text with the source.
source: sander van der linden, \the science behind dreaming,\ published in scientific american july 2011.

early civilizations thought of dreams as a medium between our earthly world and that of the gods. in fact, the greeks and romans were convinced that dreams had certain prophetic powers.

student text:
according to van der linden, some ancient peoples believed that our dreams forecast our futures and connected us with gods.

is the student text plagiarized?
no, it is not plagiarized.
yes, because it fails to use quotation marks.
yes, because it fails to cite the source.

Explanation:

The student properly attributes the idea to van der Linden, rephrases the source content (recasting "early civilizations/Greeks and Romans" as "ancient peoples", "prophetic powers" as "forecast our futures", and "medium between our earthly world and that of the gods" as "connected us with gods") without copying the source text verbatim, and cites the author. This constitutes proper paraphrasing with attribution, not plagiarism.

Answer:

No, it is not plagiarized.