THIS IS THE BEST CLASS I'VE EVER TAKEN SO FAR AT UCLA. Omg I don't even know where to begin. Professor Karney is one of the most enthusiastic professors I've ever had; he's clearly passionate about teaching this course and is extremely knowledgable on intimate relationships. I sort of just randomly decided to take this class as one of my electives for the psych major and I'm so glad that I did. I believe that the things I learned will stay with me for the rest of my life. I may not remember all the nitty gritty details of psychological studies or all the proper vocabulary words, but the overarching concepts about being responsive, validating, caring for, and understanding others will change the way I think, not only about intimate relationships, but all types of relationships!

Lectures: lectures are AMAZING. I'm not even kidding I would genuinely be so excited to go to class and just learn! We learned everything from what makes certain relationships more vulnerable than others, how to strengthen intimacy and promote closeness, what make sex satisfying, intimate partner violence, the effects of stress on intimacy, hook-up culture, how to properly resolve conflicts and stop negative reciprocity. And Professor Karney is so enthusiastic about everything. He really encourages audience participation and goes as far as to remember your name in a lecture hall of hundreds of students if you participate in class. And he's funnyyyyyy too.

Textbook reading: reading the textbook is extremely important and is crucial if you want to do well in this course. The textbook is long. By the end of the course i literally read the entire 500+ pages of the book, but honestly the material was so interesting and engaging I didn't even mind. The textbook is very well written (Karney is a co-author!) and the examples they used were so heartwarming, some of them literally made me tear up.

Test: there is one midterm and one final, both 50 MC questions. YOU MUST STUDY TO DO WELL. I would read the textbook just a bunch and even listen to the audiobook on the way to class before tests and I did really well. I think I got 48/50 on my first one and I am still waiting for the final score to come out. They are definitely doable you just need to know the material. We also have a short paper that was pretty straightforward which I got 100% on.

Office hours: Go to his office hours!!! I would go even if I didn't have questions just to hear other people's conversations and they were so interesting to hear. Sometimes I forget that we go to UCLA and are getting taught by some of the leading researchers/educators in their fields so def take advantage of it!

The material of this class is super interesting but the tests are definitely difficult. There is so much material covered and he does pull references to random sections of the textbook in both tests. he used bruincast which was nice, and I found it easy to get the important information while watching at 2x speed. he really tries to get to know students that participate in class, but attendance isn't necessary. in addition to the two midterms, there is a short paper where we talk about the application of two course concepts. the paper was easy and graded leniently; I think almost everyone got a 100. overall interesting, but only three things make up your grade which isn't a lot.

(137C) Karney is an amazing teacher. He is very passionate about his work. I got a B+ in his class. I would suggest to review your notes (a lot), watch the podcast more than once, and read (but reading should not take your time away from reviewing). He wrote the book and should go over the most important stuff in class. He does throw a few things from the book but, most of the test material is from lecture. I highly recommend this class.

Karney is the best. He is the most entertaining lecturer I have ever experienced. His classes do require work, in order to get an A it is necessary to read the ENTIRE textbook. It's worth it though, the subject and the professor are both awesome.

Great Professor. Great Class. Opportunities for extra credit. Pretty Easy tests (the Midterm was NOT that tricky.....really. Though, I will admit, it wasn't the best made test i've ever seen, lets put it that way. Still very possible to do well.) Make sure to do all the readings and go to lecture obviously. But lecture is so fun and interesting, you'll want to go anyways!

Professor Karney is one of my favorite professors in UCLA. His great enthusiasm and humor kept me awake during the lectures, and the readings were interesting too. Yes you should go to the lectures and read the textbook to get an A in the class, but you'll appreciate what you learn. In addition, Professor Karney is very approachable, encouraging, and knowledgeable. It was an honor to have him as my professor.

Professor Karney is an engaging, boisterous speaker. However, his testing methods and text leave much to be desired. I am an A student, who reads the materials, studies for days, and I can honestly say that this if the first exam where I felt it was a guessing game. The exam questions are vague or test material from text that is minute.

Yes, he's a great lecturer- he has a good sense of humor, adds excitement to what he's talking about so you don't dose off to la la land. BUT his classes aren't easy so be forewarned. Tests are based on whats discussed in lecture and in the book. If you want an A you'll really have to earn it, and believe me, it's not easy. Expect to read the entire text. A lot of whats covered in the test, comes from the book and isn't necessarily covered in class. Also, I think his exams are incredibly long, and there's not enough time to go back and review your answers.

To put it simply: Karney is the best lecturer I have ever had in my life. If you keep up with the reading, and watch the lectures, then the tests aren't bad at all, don't let others scare you away from taking Karney. This class isn't an easy A, but it's UCLA.

I didn't get an A in the class. But I must say that Professor Karney is one of my best professors I have ever had so far. He's definitely the best one I had in UCLA, and I'm a senior. He was passionate and very clear. Each lecture that he presented was like an adventurous story. He got the students motivated easily because he picked interesting examples that we can relate. I want to give my class experience a 10, but the discussion turned out not to be as fun. I remember it was raining one day and I still ran to class without an umbrella, but it turned out it was the TA to lecture because Professor Karney went for a seminar. And I was disappointed. Well, to put it this way, she put me to sleep 10 mins after class started. I woke up with my drool on my pants. In discussion, they also forced you to participate by calling on your names. Frequently the discussion would hit on uncomfortable discussion, like you have to rate the person next to you (yes, with them knowing), or to list what you're looking for in your partner publicly. Supposedly this is to let us experience the social psychology on hand. But it was pretty uncomfortable. The exams were hard. They were multiple choice but most of the questions were nothing straightforward -- you need to apply the knowledge of the terms in a story or a case. One very interesting sample question that I got wrong was: Out of these girls Matt dated, who would he like the most? (a) "A", for whom he had booked the movie tickets in advance (b) "B", who has rejected Matt twice before accepting the date (c) "C", who brought gifts on the date (Or something like that)... They all sound probable. >_< Answer is B.