PSYCH 135
Social Psychology
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisites: courses 10, 100A. Designed for juniors/seniors. Interrelationships between the individual and his social environment. Social influences on motivation, perception, and behavior. Development and change of attitudes and opinions. Psychological analysis of small groups, social stratification, and mass phenomena. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Very very nice guy...as said before, he cares a lot about student's learning and understanding of the material. He's very responsive and is great about checking the class website and responding to ALL questions. His lecture is a little boring but he really means well! Class doesn't require too much reading, just the typical textbook stuff, and every other week or so a really brief paper for discussion. And he's also reallllly fair...try him out. Just do your reading and understand the lectures and you will do great.
Very very nice guy...as said before, he cares a lot about student's learning and understanding of the material. He's very responsive and is great about checking the class website and responding to ALL questions. His lecture is a little boring but he really means well! Class doesn't require too much reading, just the typical textbook stuff, and every other week or so a really brief paper for discussion. And he's also reallllly fair...try him out. Just do your reading and understand the lectures and you will do great.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2019 - Before I begin, I'm selling the 4th edition of Social Psychology (PDF version) by Gilovich for $15. If you're interested, send a text to **********. I accept Venmo, PayPal, and physical cash in person. She's a great professor. The class wasn't too difficult nor was it too easy; just right. She provides slides before class even starts and also offers extra credit (SONA). The textbook is necessary because she would occasionally test material from the text that isn't taught in lecture. Honestly if you just read the text and not go to class you'll do fine. Overall a good professor, no BS like other professors out there (looking at you Firstenberg).
Winter 2019 - Before I begin, I'm selling the 4th edition of Social Psychology (PDF version) by Gilovich for $15. If you're interested, send a text to **********. I accept Venmo, PayPal, and physical cash in person. She's a great professor. The class wasn't too difficult nor was it too easy; just right. She provides slides before class even starts and also offers extra credit (SONA). The textbook is necessary because she would occasionally test material from the text that isn't taught in lecture. Honestly if you just read the text and not go to class you'll do fine. Overall a good professor, no BS like other professors out there (looking at you Firstenberg).
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - I want to start off by saying, I genuinely LOVE Dr. Smurda as a professor. Her lectures were thoughtful, engaging, and I truly feel like I learned a lot in her class. However, her tests were NOT fair. The class grade is weighted 80% exam scores and 20% everything else. She gave us practice exams and in NO WAY did they reflect the material that was on the tests. There were too many questions placed in the test that were designed to trick you as well... if you like selecting from "A, B, C, A&C, or All of the Above" type questions, you may do well on the tests. All closed note tests as well. I'm an honors student, and I worked HARD in this class this quarter to still only come out of it with a C- (AFTER the 3% extra credit she thankfully offered to us) was factored in to my final grade. I don't feel that my final grade reflects the knowledge I did take away from this course, and it's so unfortunate. I know a ton of other honors students could also agree with me on this. To reiterate - AMAZING professor, AWFUL / UNFAIR EXAMS. I probably would not take this class with her again due to the testing situation alone, but I would if that were to change in a heartbeat. TAKE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!
Winter 2022 - I want to start off by saying, I genuinely LOVE Dr. Smurda as a professor. Her lectures were thoughtful, engaging, and I truly feel like I learned a lot in her class. However, her tests were NOT fair. The class grade is weighted 80% exam scores and 20% everything else. She gave us practice exams and in NO WAY did they reflect the material that was on the tests. There were too many questions placed in the test that were designed to trick you as well... if you like selecting from "A, B, C, A&C, or All of the Above" type questions, you may do well on the tests. All closed note tests as well. I'm an honors student, and I worked HARD in this class this quarter to still only come out of it with a C- (AFTER the 3% extra credit she thankfully offered to us) was factored in to my final grade. I don't feel that my final grade reflects the knowledge I did take away from this course, and it's so unfortunate. I know a ton of other honors students could also agree with me on this. To reiterate - AMAZING professor, AWFUL / UNFAIR EXAMS. I probably would not take this class with her again due to the testing situation alone, but I would if that were to change in a heartbeat. TAKE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2018 - Professor Ward was honestly one of the best professors I have ever encountered at UCLA (and I have taken many classes with many instructors). He is super knowledgeable about the material, but he's also funny, lighthearted, understanding, and approachable. The class breakdown was as follows: final (40%), midterm (30%), short paper (20%), participation (10%), possibility of 2 EC points through SONA. Both he and my peers said the exams were difficult, but I didn't find them all that tricky. He asks concept questions, but they are very detailed. So I suppose if you didn't study in a detailed, rigorous way, you might find the tests a little "unfair." Regardless, his grading system produces an UNBELIEVABLY forgiving curve: He takes your score out of 50 (e.g., 39/50), but instead of multiplying and then curving, he just adds 50 raw points (i.e., 39/50 --> 89/100). So although you may have gotten a real C+ (39 x 2 = 78), he bumps you up to a B+ (89). To study, I did testing and recall challenges for lecture slides, but I barely bothered to read the textbook. In the end, I scored a 46/50 on both the midterm and the final, a 95 on the paper, and 100 on participation, and ended up with an A+. Some important things to note: participation in this class didn't mean just showing up. So if you showed up for everything, but didn't say all that much, you would NOT get a 100 on participation. You needed to form relationships with the TA and Professor to get full credit. Also, don't bother buying the textbook; it's a waste of money. Like I said, I barely read the textbook and got an A+ in the class. Lastly, don't miss lecture; his slides are bare, and he goes into way more detail in class. I think the consequences of missing a class are what distinguishes an A and a B in Ward's course.
Summer 2018 - Professor Ward was honestly one of the best professors I have ever encountered at UCLA (and I have taken many classes with many instructors). He is super knowledgeable about the material, but he's also funny, lighthearted, understanding, and approachable. The class breakdown was as follows: final (40%), midterm (30%), short paper (20%), participation (10%), possibility of 2 EC points through SONA. Both he and my peers said the exams were difficult, but I didn't find them all that tricky. He asks concept questions, but they are very detailed. So I suppose if you didn't study in a detailed, rigorous way, you might find the tests a little "unfair." Regardless, his grading system produces an UNBELIEVABLY forgiving curve: He takes your score out of 50 (e.g., 39/50), but instead of multiplying and then curving, he just adds 50 raw points (i.e., 39/50 --> 89/100). So although you may have gotten a real C+ (39 x 2 = 78), he bumps you up to a B+ (89). To study, I did testing and recall challenges for lecture slides, but I barely bothered to read the textbook. In the end, I scored a 46/50 on both the midterm and the final, a 95 on the paper, and 100 on participation, and ended up with an A+. Some important things to note: participation in this class didn't mean just showing up. So if you showed up for everything, but didn't say all that much, you would NOT get a 100 on participation. You needed to form relationships with the TA and Professor to get full credit. Also, don't bother buying the textbook; it's a waste of money. Like I said, I barely read the textbook and got an A+ in the class. Lastly, don't miss lecture; his slides are bare, and he goes into way more detail in class. I think the consequences of missing a class are what distinguishes an A and a B in Ward's course.
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