Question

• Read the passage (below) from your textbook.

• Think about the main ideas contained in the passage.

• Make a list of four (4) main ideas contained in the passage.

• In your own words, summarize the main ideas in paragraph form with a minimum of four (4) complete sentences. Textbook Passage:

“…how much of our behavior is a consequence of our unique and special qualities, the individual differences that differentiate us from other people? Conversely, how much reflects the culture and society in which we live, stemming from universal principles that underlie the behavior of all humans? Psychologists who rely on the neuroscience perspective tend to look for universal principles of behavior, such as how the nervous system operates or the way certain hormones automatically prime us for sexual activity. Such psychologists concentrate on the similarities in our behavioral destinies despite vast differences in our upbringing. In contrast, psychologists who employ the humanistic perspective focus more on the uniqueness of every individual. They consider every person’s behavior a reflection of distinct and special individual qualities.”

PSY101 – Introduction to Psychology Summarization Assignment

• Summarize this paragraph in your own words

Answer 1

1. The paragraph speaks about the determinants of behavior and the related approaches to study behavior.

2. More specifically, the paragraph highlights that there are internal as well as external determinants of behavior. Internal neurochemistry and the external environment determine human behavior. But there are different approaches to study the amount of influence these determinants have on human behavior.

3. The paragraph enumerates about the neuroscience perspective as a basis of human behavior. The paragraph highlights that from the neuroscience perspective there are certain universal principles of behavior. Human beings are uniform or similar in terms of the nervous system functioning. Human beings have uniform hormonal functioning for sexual activity. Those studying the neuroscience perspective focus on behavioral uniformity in human beings, despite the discrepancies in behavior that occurs due to differences in one's setting, environment, culture and society.

4. The paragraph also enumerates about the humanistic perspective for explaining human behavior. As compared to the neuroscience perspective, the humanistic perspective highlights the unique qualities in every individual that guides and shapes behavior. According to the humanistic approach, distinct traits of every human being influence his or her behavior. So, individual behavior is unique, as determined by his or her unique characteristics.

Therefore, the four ideas reflected from the paragraph are - 1. determinants of behavior and the related approaches to the study of behavior, 2. internal neurochemistry and the external environment as determinants of human behavior, 3. the neuroscience perspective as a basis of human behavior. 4. the humanistic perspective of human behavior.