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.

Okay this class was NOT as bad as everyone said it was. It is so doable if you really participate in lab and go to your TA's office hours. It is really important to be 100% there during lab because the assignments are graded tough but the whole class is curved so really you just have to do better than everyone else in your lab and lecture to get an A. I found the exams to be pretty challenging but again, I scored about a 77-80% on both the midterm and the final and still got an A- in the class because I was still a little above the mean. The most important part is doing well on your final paper because this counts for most of your lab grade, so be meticulous about your papers and study hard for the exams. But I was terrified coming into this class and it honestly wasn't that bad at all, just work hard:)

I was really intimidated going into this class because of all of the horrible things people have said about it, but it honestly wasn't as bad as I expected. Professor Firstenberg is an excellent lecturer, and I never found myself disengaged despite the class being an 8 AM. She explains concepts effectively and is always willing to answer questions or clarify any misunderstandings. That being said, the material is not difficult to understand, but the way the exams are set up and worded are very tricky. Although both exams are multiple choice, it's difficult to choose one answer over another since most answers seem to be a good fit, and it can get pretty confusing when the answer options involve choices such as "a and b, but not c" or "b and c, but not a" or "all of the above". Definitely begin reviewing concepts ahead of time, and briefly look over the textbook since a couple of questions are pulled from there. As for the lab, this was my least favorite part of the class because of how difficult it could be and how time-consuming it was. I found it odd that we spent more time in the labs even though the lecture was worth more of our overall grade. The first few weeks of the lab were pretty simple and straightforward, but it ramps up once groups are formed and randomly assigned by the TA. Fortunately, I had a very understanding and lenient TA who graded very fairly and made the labs less tedious. I also got lucky with my group as we always started assignments on time and maintained good communication. It's important to set expectations and be clear about your capacities! As long as you prioritize and get things done on time, you'll be fine. Overall, while this class wasn't the most enjoyable and I'm so glad I'm done with it, it isn't necessarily what people make it out to be!

This is a tough class, but it's definitely not as hellish as I thought it would be based on past reviews. You can get through it.

You WILL have to spend a lot of time and effort in lab assignments, but what matters most is your exam grades (midterm and final)! So, while you should still try hard in lab, definitely pay a lot of attention to what is taught in lectures and in the textbook. I got high grades on most of my lab assignments, but what really killed me were the exams.

This class is very demanding, but it is not as impossible as everyone makes it seem. I was definitely nervous in the beginning, but that feeling helps to make sure you're on top of the work. The lecture is very easy to follow. The midterm and final are pretty much based on lecture but it really helps to read over the textbook and make some notes on the keywords. The lab is the more strenuous part of the course. I personally found it more difficult in the beginning because I had no prior knowledge on research papers and didn't know what was expected from me. As I got to know the TA and worked through the workbook, I got a better hang of it. Don't be afraid to ask the TA for help, that's their job and It definitely helps to utilize office hours and email them about anything you're confused about. Good luck and hopefully you don't get stuck with group mates who have no idea what's going on like I did!

professor Firstenberg is fine, she is helpful and teaches the topics in a way that makes sense. I actually found the lecture material to be quite easy, and the test to be reflective of the practice exams. You just have to break down each question on the practice exam, see why the answer is correct, and see why the alternative choices are incorrect. Also, bring a colored pen to the exam, and for every passage locate the DVs, IVs, levels, confounds, etc. It made the test way more digestible for me, which is probably why I aced the final even before it was adjusted for the curve.
However, the lab was a completely different story. I don't consider myself to be the greatest writer, but I've done fine in all the writing assignments before at UCLA for other classes, including even some philosophy papers. But these papers were another story... the instructions are not clear, there is no rubric, and grading is solely based on your T.A. I took this course during the summer, so we would only have at most a few days to do assignments that normally take several weeks in the regular year. Due to my T.A.'s schedule though, what would happen is that we would be assigned something and receive a debrief on that assignment on one day, but in b/w the time we were debriefed and the due date of the assignment, there would be no OH scheduled, so we would never be able to talk to the T.A. before it was due. This is crucial, b/c again, the grading is very subjective, so you wanna make sure you're on the right track by verifying it w/ your T.A., which we were rarely able to do. On top of that, our T.A. in particular was very bad at responding to emails in a timely manner, so given the unclear instructions and absence of a rubric, we were essentially shooting from the hip for many of these assignments.
I think it's absolutely absurd that in a 6 unit class, our grade is so subjective to the T.A's discretion. Also, if they're going to make it like this, they should make sure they screen for good T.A.s. From what I've heard thru the grapevine from the grad students who have T.A's this course before, many of them do not want to T.A. this class, and only do it b/c they are forced to. Many of them are not really qualified to be objectively grading these papers, which leads to inconsistent grades. Also, keep in mind you are doing these assignments in a group.. so if you have one group member who doesn't wanna do anything, well tough luck. I think it's also annoying that you're forced to compete in this class- b/c it's graded on a curve, A's will only be given two the top 4-5 people in each section. So that's like one or two groups at most that will receive an A.
Basically, I wish I had taken this during the regular year instead of the summer. Sure, I would've had to juggle the extra classes by taking it in the regular quarter but I would gotten a higher grade cuz lecture is weighed heavier in the regular year (I got an A+ in lecture but below the mean in lab), and there are many more opportunities to talk to your T.A. in b/w due dates. This is the only non-A grade I've received at UCLA, and I'm graduating soon. I absolutely hated this class, but I don't have anything negative to say about Firstenberg, and unfortunately it's not like you can substitute this course for something else. Good luck on it is all I can say- start your projects as early as possible, and stay communicating w/ your T.A.s

Firstenberg is probably the best professor I've had so far at UCLA.
She genuinely cares about students and presents material in a way that is direct and clear.
LECTURE
Lecture is once a week, Firstenberg just speaks and writes down a few bullets to guide her topics. It's essential that you go to lecture and take detailed notes because everything she says will likely be on the exams later in the course. Feel free to ask questions too because her examples and explanations illuminate ideas very well. In terms of the material itself, it's not hard to understand but there may be a lot of terms you need to know. Make sure you READ THE TEXTBOOK. I was one of the few people that read every chapter, and took notes, and my grade reflected that. The textbook has topics not covered in lecture that may be on the exam. Both exams in the course were pretty tricky but if you think hard about the questions and answer choices, you will be fine. Do not overthink or second-guess your answers. They try to trick you on purpose (not Firstenberg's fault, but the department's). The exams had averages in the C range, but don't worry because a curve is applied to the end of the course.
LAB
I honestly did not enjoy lab for a few reasons. First, my group (which is randomly assigned for the quarter) did not try very hard on assignments and wanted to do things last minute. This meant that I had to edit our work heavily and stress myself out because they often messed up in writing assignments or misunderstood lecture/lab topics. Start assignments EARLY, they are very time-consuming. Second, the lab assignments towards the end of the quarter were assigned pretty close to each other which was very stressful. My TA was great at teaching and wasn't too harsh with grading (averages on writing assignments were in the C+/B- range). Once again, don't stress about your grade because the lab is also graded on a curve. Every other week there was a 3-question quiz based on lecture material. They were pretty easy, don't overthink the questions. People would complain that lab assignments were graded too harshly but honestly many things people lost points on were things that our TA, Firstenberg, and the textbook referenced. This is not a class that is unfair. I honestly think people do not put in as much effort as they should, and they complain when their results are less than optimal. Do not blame the TA for your own laziness, or for not paying attention to detail. Go to office hours if you truly feel grading was unfair, or if you're confused about assignments.
GRADE BREAKDOWN
60% Lecture
-50% Exam 1
-50% Exam 2
40% Lab
-15% Quizzes
-65% Assignments
-20%Participation (going to lab, asking/answering questions, etc)

Here's what I got for an A in the class
-Exam 1: 38/40 (Mean 31.95, SD 4.33)
-Exam 1: 36/40 (Mean 31.3, SD 4.7)
-Quizzes: 11/12 (Mean and SD not known)
-Method Section Edits: 100% (Mean and SD not known, I think most people in my lab got a B on it)
-Advice Proposal: 80% (Mean 82, SD 4)
- Project Proposal: 85% (Mean 82, SD 6)
- First Submission: 87% (Mean 79, SD 8)
- Second Submission: 92% (Mean 79, SD 10)
- Poster and SPSS grades unknown, but these are easy assignments.
- I often spoke in Lab and never missed a session, so I'm assuming my participation grade was high.
- 1 Extra credit point was applied to your lecture grade if you did a SONA study, after the curve is applied.
TIPS
- Read every chapter assigned to each week, and takes notes on them.
- Go to lecture and pay attention.
- Do not study last minute for exams.
- For each exam I would go over my textbook notes a week in advance and go over the entire practice exam given, they emulated the actual exams pretty well. I studied alone, because studying in a group may be too distracting.
- Go over what you got wrong on exams.
- Start lab assignments ASAP. Read the APA manual and re-read what you write for editing. Look at examples of writing in the textbook (e.g. the Method section, Results section, and References section are all explained in the textbook).
- Go to TA office hours.
- Don't overthink quizzes.
- Research your experiment topic well, especially for the first and second submissions. Synthesize your papers with past literature well.
- Lastly, do not blame the course for your grade in the class. I found the class difficult but I put in the work to make sure I got the results I wanted. This is not an impossible class, and UCLA is not meant to be easy. If you put in the effort and follow instructions clearly, you will be fine. Best of luck!