Pretty easy class-just go to OH for feedback from your TA. I had Emily and she was awesome and really great at relieving stress.

So, I took this class during a remote quarter where they also decided to test out some restructuring of the assignments for the class (and made it very back heavy). But, I don't think the TAs or students liked the restructure so I'm not sure if it'll be the same as this quarter in the future. However, while the group project was annoying if you got group members who didn't do much (like I did), the class was pretty doable. The biggest thing with this class is to just stay on top of the assignments. If you wait until the last second, you're not going to do as well on anything. Starting working on stuff right away and give yourself time to proof read. If you stay on top of everything, it makes the class much much much easier.

I took this class online during COVID-19.

The other reviews touch on why this class can be a drag. I thought it was manageable online but the issue is that many of the assignments are vague and require you to ask a lot of questions in order to ensure a good grade.

Paulina is a great TA. Do not be afraid to ask her any questions as she will likely answer most if not all questions in a timely manner.

Here is a breakdown of my scores:

Lab (60% of grade):
Quizzes: 5/12, mean: 8.29, sd: 1.90
Study Strategy Proposal: 79/100, mean: 80.71, sd: 9.87
Project Proposal: 79/100, mean: 84.29, sd: 7.22
Individual Final Write up: 85/100, mean: 82.19, sd: 8.28
Group Materials: 9/10, mean: 8.57, sd: 0.51
Discussion Assignment: 80/100, mean: 81.90, sd: 8.73
Participation Points: I do not have my score but the mean was a 69.48 and the sd was 3

Lecture (40% of grade):

Final Exam: 31/40 (78%), mean: 33/40, sd:4

If you want to do really good on the final exam, I'd suggest studying the material from the book. Ask a lot of questions in lab and stay on top of all of the assignments especially in the last two weeks.

Selling the PDF version of this textbook for $25, way cheaper than what you'll pay for at the bookstore. venmo: Lsoto28

The class material is easy. The lectures and sections are easy. The quizzes are easy as long as you attend the lecture. But... I hated the group projects and the curve. For my personal papers, I did better than the mean, but the group I was placed in literally did not do anything. One of them even did their part 30 minutes before the deadline. I had made friends in section but the TA put us in random groups and I was just unlucky. BTW, the tests are really hard, you have to study and attend study sessions.

This was my second time taking this class and I did significantly better since I gave myself much more time to study the book. Re reading and testing yourself using the book is CRUCIAL for a good grade. The tests are extremely tricky and the only way to get a good score on them are by using the process of elimination in my opinion. Lot of the questions will be in a "A and C but not B" format so it's pretty hard. Professor Firstenberg is very thorough with her lectures and my TA was an amazing TA who was also very helpful. Your grade in this class will most likely be determined by your TA and whether you're lucky and get one that is less harsh with grading . Another option would be to score really high on the exams. The first time I took this class I got a C-, both of my exams were around 24/40. The second time I took this class I got a 34 and 36/40. Please, please, please ask a lot of questions on discussion boards and make sure to re read and test yourself on chapters from the book or you will not get a good grade. Don't feel embarrassed to ask a lot of questions, I promise you it will help you in the long run. Put aside extra time for this class because you're going to need it.

100B really wasn't as bad as people make it out to be; it's just tedious and honestly somewhat of a joke. Firstenberg was great, her lectures were super clear [no slides, she writes on the whiteboard which makes you pay attention] the biggest problem with this class is the exams. Firstenberg has no control over the exam questions and basically you won't do good on them unless you're a good test taker. I studied the material for almost 2 weeks, did all the readings and practice exams, and still failed both exams. The questions are worded ridiculously tricky ON PURPOSE. I did well in lab; depends on your TA but it wasn't bad at all. Overall, loved the material, think its important for any psych major, but beware that this class is set up to confuse you. Failed both exams and still passed so don't get discouraged!!

I really enjoyed this class! It was challenging, yes, but I really feel as though I learned so much in the process. Lectures were entertaining, lab was often tedious but the class was never boring. Study a ton for the midterm and the final and really focus on being concise in your written work. The exam questions can be tricky, yes, but there are lengthy practice exams provided. If you can fully master the practice exams there will be few surprises or "tricks" you encounter on the actual exam. This class really teaches you how to be a better consumer of information.

I was really afraid of this class going in, knowing that it's one of the most dreaded classes you have to take as a psych/psychobio/cog sci major. I went into it knowing that it wouldn't be easy, so I busted my butt off for the class.

Professor Firstenberg is a pretty good lecturer; the material can be dry at times but she does care about you learning the material, so she tries to make the lectures engaging so people pay attention. I respect that. Listening and taking notes in lecture is mostly sufficient, but you're going to want to actually read the book (or have really good deductive reasoning) to have a shot at all the questions on the exams. Considering the way that labs can be graded kind of harshly, you might want those extra points.

The lab component is the part that everybody dreads. There are regular quizzes, and they do make up a decent amount of achievable points, with some review. Don't slack on those.

From what I've heard, the lab assignments have been reconfigured some since I took the course in the fall? What usually kills folks points-wise is not executing everything in the rubric. You're going to want your writing and logic to be air-tight to do well in this course. They're trying to get you to think like scientists, so keep that in mind when you do your proposals/submissions and whatnot. I recommend going in and talking to your TA for guidance through this. I had a really experienced TA who just finished her last quarter here, but TAs who are familiar with the course and where students tend to lose points are super insightful! Go to office hours! I think this is the class where I felt the most close with my TA because of how much I asked for help and how often you meet in lab.

They really are trying to make this an equitable class for people taking it, but that kind of comes at a cost at the way undergrads perceive the course. There are a lot of misconceptions about the course (you aren't necessarily pitted against your discussion section for a limited number of A's -- if all of your class legitimately produces A-quality work for a given assignment/term, you'll receive that grade. It's just very strictly graded to a standard that all TAs are expected to adhere to).

I heard a lot of negative stuff about this course, but with a good amount of work put into this class, it's doable. Do remember that it is a phat six unit class, and treat it accordingly. (I think I did work kind of to an extreme level for this class, though, so our definitions of doable might be different). You can do it!

TLDR: Focus more on the two exams because they are 60% of your grade, attend every class and lab, don't do anything last minute, follow instructions by TAs very closely, participate, and ask for help from friends who have already taken the class. If you do that, you should do fine. Good luck!

This is a class with a heavy workload. However, most of the work comes from Lab and lab is only 40% of your overall grade. As long as you participate in every lab session you should be able to get full participation credit. In addition, your group project is not graded on how extravagant it is. It is graded based on the logic and critical thinking in developing the experiment. Same goes for papers.

I realize that a lot of people say that your TA is the factor on whether or not you do well in the class, but each lab is graded on their own curve. In other words, no, who your TA is does not really matter. Sure, each TA may be looking for something different (for example my TA looked for logic), but they will usually tell you what they look for the most. For the most part, the TAs have to stick to a pretty strict grading guide. Just stick close to the instructions, take notes, and DON'T DO ANYTHING LAST MINUTE. Being able to review my work really helped me correct mistakes. Lastly, for the write-ups, when they say don't work together that just applies to people taking 100B at the moment. You can still ask others who have taken the class before to help you edit papers and brainstorm ideas.

Because the class is not streamed or recorded by the professor I highly recommend going to every lecture. The professor made the material so clear that the only studying I had to do was go over the practice exams. (I found that the score on the practice exams was similar to the score on the actual test. Keep in mind that the exams are worth 60% of your grade and there are only 2 of them. So don't stress about the projects that are not worth a whole lot and focus more on the exams.