I kind of regret taking this class honestly even though I did learn a lot of information regarding intimate relationships. The material is useful and interesting and Prof Karney himself is an enthusiastic lecturer. However, there isn't any structure on what important topics you have to focus on in the class to be successful with exams. You have to read a book that's about 1000 pages and for the exams, anything in it is fair game. That's about 7 or 8 long chapters for each exam. Like others have said, the exams can include tiny obscure details from the book. So, you can read the book and take good notes of every chapter and still barely pass exams. The study guides aren't helpful whatsoever. Keep in mind, there is also no extra credit offered in the class. If you want to maintain your GPA and take a course just for upper division credit, then this class is not for you.

Professor Karney is a really helpful professor. He cares about his students and even goes as far to learn each person's name in a 200-300 student lecture hall. His lectures are also very enjoyable and offer you a general sense of what you need to know. All that being said, you MUST read the book, and not just read, you MUST take good notes. And even if you do take notes, you may still get 4-5 questions wrong on the tests as he nit picks from some minor, obscure detail from the book. He says to know the applications of the theory, but when I asked him what I should focus on while reading the book, he said "I think everything is important". Thanks. So basically, you need to know 250 pages worth of material for each test. He also offers no extra credit FYI. Overall, Karney is a sincere, caring professor who gives engaging lectures, even though you could get a good grade just by reading the book and not showing up to lecture. If you care about the subject and having a quality experience, take him. If you care about your GPA, not so much.

Just took his course this last Spring Quarter of 2015. And all I have to say is... God damn.

Okay, well let me just get started on his grading and how it works for people who are -potentially- interested in taking this course.

You have two "midterms", the second one is weighted slightly more heavily than the first one to account for "getting used to how he writes his exams"... yeah. They are both 50 questions, multiple choice, and the second one is non-cumulative. And you have to write a short paper that out of 30 points. So long as you follow the guidelines for the paper and hit all those key concepts, you can easily get the 30/30.

As for the multiple choice... yeesh. So I know people are saying that if reading takes time away from reviewing, then choose reviewing lectures first... but I say, if you want a great grade in the course, you need to read the ENTIRE book and have good notes for them + have good notes for lecture and know every single one of em.

Yes, that's right. You can literally only miss 10 points in this class to get an A. It's ridiculous, but it isn't impossible. You just need to stay on track. That being said, if you're planning to take this course as an "easy" course you can sort of half ass your way through, then DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT take this course.

That being said, Karney is an amazing professor. He is very approachable, outgoing, and makes lecture a fun thing to go to. He podcasts every single lecture (be wary, because sometimes his mic gives out). And he constantly reminds you about deadlines and test dates to keep you informed. He's very honest and will tell how you it is. No bullshit.

This course will definitely inform you a lot about how relationships work. But as Karney told us, fixing relationships is still a very tricky thing to accomplish.

Do yourself a favor and TAKE THIS CLASS!!

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.

Amazing professor, although I never came to class (it was my only class on the days I had it, and I didn't see a point in going when it was Bruincasted) I genuinely looked forward to hearing his lectures. He can make 1 hour and 15 mins feel like it's going way faster just because he is so enthusiastic, and is a funny guy. I wasn't that particularly interested in the topic before coming into this class, but he made me interested in it, and relationships are obviously something that are relevant to everyone's life.
So the biggest thing about this class is you have to be a good exam taker to succeed. There is no extra credit offered, and 80% of your grade is based on exams (one midterm, one non-cumulative final). You also have to read the book, and absorb most of the material from it. There's a lot of stuff but he wrote the book in a way that is interesting, so it doesn't read like a traditional psych textbook. I was able to get a 100 on both exams w/o taking any notes, I just read the chapters over and over again about a week before the exams, and rehearsed material that I thought was gonna be on the exam. Prioritize on things mentioned in lecture, use that as a guide to know what to focus on when reading the book. There's gonna be stuff that isn't mentioned in lecture that is in the text, but I'd say at least 80% (probably more) of the exam questions were based on material that was mentioned in lecture + the book. Some reviewers say you have to know obscure details in the readings, but I did not find that to be the case. There wasn't one question about something he briefly mentioned, almost all the questions had to do w/ a large section in the book.
Also, he warns you the exams are hard but I did not find that to be the case. I found very few questions where I needed to take a 50/50 guess on, if you just memorized most of the important concepts for each chapter you should do well on the exams. The questions aren't even close to the level of psych 100b difficulty, very few trick questions, if any.
The essay is very easy, pretty much easy points. Consult the TA if you have any questions, but honestly if you put any effort into it you should be able to get full or near full credit on it. You really wanna make sure you do well on the paper since there is no extra credit, so if you're shooting for an A you don't have much room for error.
Overall, I wish Karney taught more classes because I found his class to be entertaining. The only downside is you have to read a lot, and I've never been much of a reader. Also you can only miss a handful of questions on the exams to get an A, so that was another downside. But the pros outweigh the cons imo. If you need a psych class you should take his class, if it's available. But if you're looking for an elective, this may not be the class for you, since you're certainly going to have to work for that A

Professor Karney is extremely nice and an amazing, passionate lecturer who is very knowledgeable about Intimate Relationships. He is also very willing to help others for those who come to office hours. However, the exams (two multiple choice exams in the Summer) are very hard and require a lot of reading and studying (worth 45 percent and 55 percent). I messed up a bit in my first exam and studied my ass off for the final to get my A-. I recommend taking the class just for Professor Karney and his charisma and personality but would raise caution about grading as the average grade for the class was a B- to B and requires a lot of reading and studying.

Karney was one of the best professors ive ever had in my life. Classes were podcasted but lecture was so much better. The lectures were engaging and karney always had enriching anecdotes to add to the topics we were discussing. The textbook that was required was written by karney himself and its a very easy read. it is as interesting and fun as karney himself. The textbook is also extremely useful, karney often says if you want to pass the class then read the book, and hes right. All his slides basically sum up key concepts in the book. so the book is very beneficial and worth the money, I ended up splitting the price to rent a book with a friend of mine so it was pretty affordable. The tests are very straightforward. The questions aren't meant to be trick questions, so if you know the answer you know the answer. Really study the slides and the parts in the book not discussed in class. The grade for the class is not curved and it consists of the first midterm, the second midterm, and a short paper. The paper is very easy and interesting to do. Most people get A's on the paper, as long as you follow the directions. All in all this was one of the best classes i have ever taken. the topic is extremely interesting and reveling. Plus its a complicated topic that everyone has thought of at least once. Karney leaves you excited for next lecture, and also makes you feel heard. If you ask a question in class, he'll ask for your name and then memorize it. That way he can call on you by name next time you have a question. I highly recommend everyone take this class

This was the best class I’ve taken at UCLA. I wish every professor was as passionate and animated as Karney. His lectures are easy to follow because he’s so engaging. If you want to get an A, you will definitely have to read since the lectures supplement the textbook and help reinforce the material. If you find a friend and split the readings and share notes, you can still do well though.