If you're reading this then you probably have to take this class. Psych 100B is an awful class and is designed to weed people out so the tests are very tricky and assignments are graded extremely harshly. Also everything is based on a curve so the only thing that matters is how well you perform against your classmates which honestly sucks. Only take this class when you have the time to put into it otherwise it will be straight up torture.
The professor is actually very nice and explains the concepts pretty well and is also approachable but due to the nature of the course it is what it is :)

Professor Ankowski is fantastic! Not going to lie, I was hesitant about taking a language development class and was convinced it would be boring and completely unrelatable. Well, I judged way too soon - this was one of my favorite classes I have ever taken in my life. Ankowski makes lectures so engaging and made an 8am worth waking up for. I didn't miss one lecture, simply because I loved listening to her speak so much.

This class was online because of corona, and despite the gnarly reviews for PSYCH 100B, this was my easiest class in spring 2020 quarter. The exams were easy, open note and everything, and if you understand the practice exams and questions you should do well. I got a great TA (Kashia) who made all of the expectations clear and was so knowledgeable and helpful. Honestly if you just follow directions, follow rubrics, and put in effort you should do well.

I took this class Spring 2020 (remotely) so my perspective of this class likely differs from most. The class was weighed 40% lecture (midterm and final) and 60% lab (participation, quizzes, group lab report, final paper, and other small assignments). The lecture portion, in my opinion, was fairly easy. The exams were timed and you couldn't go back to questions once you had answered them, but it was open note and i thought that the practice exams were VERY helpful in understanding how to answer these questions, and some test questions mimicked the sample exams almost verbatim. The lab portion is a huge toss up, since the curve is against the people in your discussion which sucks. I scored 1 SD below the mean on my first group assignment and thought it was impossible to get an A in the class based on these other bruinwalk reviews, but I still ended up with an A-. The quizzes were completion only, which boosts your lab grade, and due to the protests, our last assignment was also graded for completion. This class is so time consuming and will make you very stressed for at least weeks 7-10, but know that if you screw up on one assignment like I did, not all hope is lost for a decent grade.

Just a disclaimer that I took this class during COVID when the whole class was online.

Overall, psych 100B has a very bad rep for being an extremely hard class. This stems from the fact that the class is curved and it is based on how people in your lab section do (about 18-19 other students). You always want to do better than the mean of your section and you want to get a standard deviation above the mean as well. The reason they do the curve is that there really is no standard on how TAs are to grade. One lab might have 88% as an average on an assignment, but the other lab might have 68% average on the same assignment. Don't get discouraged if you feel you're getting low grades because chances are everyone in your class is also getting a similar score and the average is low.

In Summer, the class is different from during the school year as 40% of the class grade is lecture and 60% is Lab grade (during the school year it is the opposite). During the Summer, they just have one exam during week 6, but during the regular quarters, there are two exams. Here's a break down of the scores and how I performed on the assignments if you're looking to get at least an A- or higher:

Lecture
Final Exam (40%): My Score: 32/40 (Average: 30.7 / 40 (did not give standard dev))

Lab
Quizzes (10%):
Quiz #1 - 3.0/3.0 (Average 2.47/3.0, SD - 0.84)
Quiz #2 - 3.0/3.0 (Average 2.95/3.0, SD - 0.23)
Quiz #3 - 3.0/3.0 (Average 2.26/3.0, SD - 0.73)
Quiz #4 - 3.0/3.0 (Average 2.58/3.0, SD - 0.69)

Quiz Total - 12.0/12.0 (Average 10.26/12.0, SD - 1.15)

Participation 20%

Study Strategy Proposal (15%) (Individual Work)
92/100 (Average 88.68/100, SD - 3.87)

Project Proposal (15%) (Group Work)
89/100 (Average 86.32/100, SD - 4.71)

Project Final Write-Up + Materials (30%)
86/100 (Average 80.41/100, SD - 3.19)

Discussion Short-Answer Assignment (10%)
Don't have any results on that one :((

A big factor in this class is the partner that you get for your final project. You might get lucky and have someone who will contribute or might have someone who really just does not wanna do anything.

If you're looking for a TA I highly recommend Peter Nooteboom. Great guy.
Goodluck!

Psych 100B assignments require creativity, thoughtfulness, attention to detail, and the ability to understand and apply the course material correctly. It is okay if you feel overwhelmed at times. It takes time adjusting to thinking like a researcher, and the professor and TAs know that. I felt like I grew in confidence throughout the session because we continually practiced the material and did assignments that built on one another. I can definitely say that this course was useful for teaching me the skills necessary for conducting research on campus and in graduate school.

I HIGHLY suggest going to office hours for this class even if you feel like you understand everything because it is always nice to get extra practice and know what your TA is looking for in your final paper/assignments. Professor Ankowski does a great job of explaining the material so don't be afraid to ask her questions. I was also lucky to have a TA who was always willing to review concepts and answer any questions.

As for grading logistics, lecture = 40% and lab = 60% during the summer. I thought the lecture material was easy to understand (and we were allowed open notes for the quizzes and final exam during COVID), and we were given four practice exams that were very similar to the questions asked on the final exam. If you feel confident in those and understand your mistakes, you should do well! For lab, a generally high grade is considered one standard deviation above the mean. Work on the assignments early, ask questions, and review the material taught in section thoroughly.

Most importantly, don't lose hope if you get a low grade! Ask for guidance, and utilize that feedback to perform better in the following assignments. This is usually one of the last reqs you need to do before declaring the psych/cog sci/psychobio major -- be proud of yourself for getting through it!

I think this was more of a personal thing but language development was never particularly interesting to me so the class material was dry in my opinion. However, the grade breakdown was incredibly doable, and only top 3 out of your 4 grades for the writing assignment and quiz counted. There was also an opportunity for extra credit by writing about your impression to an assigned film -- pretty interesting.

Overall, an easy class to take. Oh, I also never read the textbook, so Control F is your best buddy during exams. You also can't go back to review questions so everything is sequential so that was my only gripe.

The professor was nice and had good lecture skills, which the tests weren't extremely bad if you're used to tricky tests and practiced a lot. Otherwise, if you fall below the mean once for lab section, your chances of getting an A are pretty low, since it's super hard to pick it back up. They will try to say that the curve can only "help" your grade, and well that was not the case for me or anyone actually. Some tips I would recommend is just don't slack off in any assignment, and just keep trying to stay above the mean for everything, which is the same as every other review. Good luck all :)

I really enjoyed Dr. Ankowski's class. This is kind of how it went.
She uploaded videos for the week on ccle and you could watch them whenever you had the time. You have to write something in the discussion forum 5 times or go to at least 5 office hours to receive participation credit. There were weekly quizzes every other week which weren't bad at all. There was a research assignment where you watched a choose a research lecture by a grad student and summarized it and there were extension assignments where you write your thoughts on a topic. There was no midterm, but there was a cumulative final which wasn't bad either, but you couldn't go back to questions which sucked. I totally recommend taking this class with this professor. Best and most engaging and understanding professor I had at UCLA thus far!!!!!!!!!

Really straightforward tests, helpful professor, and easy to gain points towards your grade. Highly recommend taking this course with this professor!