DO NOT LISTEN TO THE BAD REVIEWS!! I was really scared to take this class because it's notorious for being one of the hardest classes for Psych majors, but this is not the case anymore! The department recently changed the curriculum so that the class is easier now! The class consists of:
Lec-240 points (2 exams)
Lab-150 points ( some completion, some accuracy)
ALM - 40 points (completion)
The first midterm was almost exactly like the practice exams. All I did to study for the test was do all the practice exams she gave us. I also timed myself while taking the practice exams in order to prepare for the real exam. She gives a good amount of time for the exams and I usually finish early. The exam is 40 questions and you are given 150 minutes to complete it. Although there were formatting issues with the first Midterm, this was just for 1 question. For the first exam I got 117/120. Though we were online, she mentioned that even if we were in person, the test would still be online! The final was also very similar to the practice exams she gave and I also got a 117/120 for the final. The questions on both exams are that there is a research scenario and you have to answer questions about it. So the questions aren't memorizing definitions, but more like applying concepts. Literally all I did was watch the lecture video and take the practice exams to prepared for both the final and the midterm. Professor Firstenberg is very good at explaining hard concepts and the TAs are amazing at further explaining concepts and applying them to scenarios. The class workload was the lightest I've ever had. We had 1 lecture a week that was always under 2 hours. We also had weekly optional lab. I never went to lab, but they did assignments that were similar to the assignments that we turned in. Some of the labs were graded for completion and others were graded for accuracy. For the labs graded for accuracy, make sure to explain literally everything you can think of. I got A's on all of the labs by doing this. These labs are graded very very harshly so make sure to ask your TA for help if you need it. The ALM portion of the class were assignments that were graded on completion. They usually took less than an hour to complete and were very similar to the test questions. The TAs went over ALMs and broke down how to do them in videos. Please watch their videos as these are the strategies that I used during both tests that were very helpful! The one challenging aspect of this class was that the tests had some confusing answer choices, such as all of the above or only a and b etc. The most useful tool for answering the test questions is by process of elimination. I literally wrote down why it can't be a certain answer choice for every single problem for the practice exams. This helps so much in solidifying concepts! Overall I really enjoyed this class and I definitly recommend Firstenberg to anyone that has to take psych 100B!!

I really think she's one of the best lecturers I have ever had in college. However, her tests were incredibly difficult compared to the practice materials provided. They are literally intended to trick you, but please don't get discouraged!

As of Winter 2022, this is what makes up your grade..
A final
A midterm
10 weekly ALM's ( essentially a worksheet reviewing course material)
Weekly (except for the week before exams) lab assignments

As a transfer student I was extremely worried about this class, as I am sure we all know of its reputation as the "weeder" class.

My expectations could not have been more wrong, as I found the class to be clear and well organized. Each week, we knew exactly what was expected of us to succeed in the class The teaching team was incredibly helpful and flexible when it came to some minor tech issues during the first exam. Overall I felt incredibly supported throughout the entire course.

Although the material is tricky, I found tests to be fair- though you do have to make sure you study a lot- preferably at least a week before an exam. As long as you keep on top of it, I think it is very possible to do well in the class without too much difficulty.

Yes, there is a lot of content in this class. However, I think that Firstenberg does a great job explaining it. You can tell through her demeanor and lectures that she actually values student learning and wants you to do well in the class. My recommendation is to ask when you don't understand!! Everything builds upon itself, so if you're lost at one point, then you're probably gonna be lost for the rest of the year after that point. The TAs are really helpful, especially the lab TA, who I asked literally so many questions to. You can get up to 9 points of extra credit I think, so just do the SONA study and the researcher spotlight thing in the beginning of the year, so you don't have to worry about it at the end.

It is a required class for all students who are part of the Psychology department. Firstenberg is a great lecturer and makes the class material easy to follow. As mentioned in the syllabus, this class has been "modified" to make it easier for students to be successful. In other words, there is no longer a long research report required during class, which appears to be a hard assignments based on commentary from Psych 100B students from previous quarters.
The average for the first midterm was over 90% and I found it to be very straightforward. However, the second midterm's average was around a 78%. I found this midterm to be much more confusing and way harder, which prevented me from receiving an A. I would recommend taking the time to study the material after every lecture in order to set yourself for successful. DO THE WEEKLY ALMS AND STUDY THEM! They were extremely helpful for me. Overall, just work hard and you should be fine.

This is going to be a review of the class in its newest format. I’ll start by saying I was VERY scared to take this class, but the new format seems to be MUCH more forgiving.

The grade is divided as follows on a points system (out of 400):
Lecture: 240 points (this consists of two exams each worth 120 points, as long as you study the practice exams thoroughly and understand the concepts you should be fine, but be warned, the second midterm was much harder than the first, the average for midterm 1 was a 90% and 78% for midterm 2)
Lab: 120 points (a mix of completion based and accuracy based, most was individual work except for work done in the lab section, which seems to be a big difference from the past format)
ALMs (active learning modules): 40 points (these individual assignments took anywhere between 10 minutes to an hour and a half, but they were completion based and very easy to follow).
There are also opportunities to earn up to 6 points extra credit.

I will leave you with one VERY IMPORTANT piece of advice, because of the way the class is set up, if you miss one graded assignment, you could lose up to 40 points off the total grade, making the highest grade you could get an A-, and that’s if you were to score basically perfect on every other exam/assignment—which is unlikely. Basically, make sure you always turn in assignments and make sure you submit the correct version. Also, utilize the grading rubrics if they give them to you, every point matters in this class so definitely keep in mind what they are grading based on. You are able to miss 1 ALM without penalty. I took this class online so all the lectures were recorded and I found them pretty manageable to watch.

In sum, fear not! Psych 100b is not as scary as it used to be, at least with Professor Firstenberg.

This class was definitely tough, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't think the material itself was overly difficult to understand, but the workload was quite heavy. The class structure is a bit confusing and it's graded on a curve, which was really new to me. Aim to score at least 1 standard deviation above the mean to get an A. The curve applied to the class can't hurt you. So, for example, if you get a 92% in lecture (which is traditionally an A-) WITHOUT the curve, you are guaranteed AT LEAST an A- WITH the curve. I would have gotten an A- in lecture without the curve, but the curve bumped me up to a solid A. Here's my grade breakdown and some specific tips for reference:
Lecture (50% of overall grade):
- Exam 1: 36/40; avg = 33/40
- Exam 2: 38/40; avg = 32/40
- Quizzes: 13/15; avg unknown
- Extra Credit: +1 pt from SONA study participation
Lab (50% of overall grade):
- Study Proposal (15%): 96/100; avg = 79.1/100, SD = 12.81
- Project Proposal (10%): 95/100; avg = 88.05/100, SD = 4.63
- Final Write-up (40%): 97/100; avg = 90.5/100, SD = 6.55
- Discussion (20%): 58/60; avg = 52.6/60, SD = 4.52
- Participation (15%): unknown

Here are some tips that helped me get an A:

1) Professor Firstenberg's lectures were very clear and she provides plenty of examples, so make sure to watch them in their entirety. I found that it really helped me to take HANDWRITTEN notes while watching the lecture. It helped keep me focused during the lecture and helped me absorb the information a lot better.

2) Dedicate several days to the "big" assignments. Be as clear and specific as you possibly can (ESPECIALLY for the first Study Project Proposal Assignment). Do not wait until the very last minute to do the assignments. Give yourself enough time to proofread and make sure you put in as much detail as possible.

3) Don't be afraid to reach out to your TA! My TA Stephen was AMAZING and always got back to us super quick and was super clear about his expectations for the papers. The lab is also graded on a curve, so don't worry if you get a "tougher" grader. The thing that determines your final grade is how many standard deviations away from the class average you are. So again, don't stress about the "toughness" of your TA. The curve will take care of grading differences.

4) TAKE THE PRACTICE EXAMS!!! I cannot emphasize this point enough!! Professor Firstenberg provides a short and long practice exam for both the midterm and final. At the very least, complete the short practice exam in its entirety, but the long practice exam definitely helps as well. You really don't have to do much other than the practice exams to study for the tests. Just make sure to look back and understand the questions you get wrong. The tests are also very application based, so don't just depend on memorization to do well on the tests. Make sure you look at the examples given in lecture and understand why and how to do them. I found that the practice exams were also very good indicators of how well you would do on the actual tests (I consistently scored in the 90%s on the practice exams, and I got 90% or higher on both the midterm and final).

5) Each lab assignment comes with a supplementary "assignment guide" that gives you very clear and specific instructions about the assignment. I found that it helped me a lot to have the assignment guide open while writing my paper so I could look back at it while writing. Use this assignment guide to your advantage. Look back at it constantly to make sure you have all the paper's requirements. Trust me, it helps a lot.

6) There are 5 quizzes in addition to the 2 "big" tests. DO NOT STRESS IF YOU DON'T DO WELL ON ALL THE QUIZZES!!! I got a 33% on one of the quizzes, which I completely stressed about. However, because I did well on the tests and got 100% on the rest of the quizzes, that one failing grade didn't really hurt my overall grade. Don't be discouraged by one bad quiz grade. There are lots of opportunities to bring your grade up!

I know a lot of people found lab more difficult than lecture, but I personally found it to be the other way around! I guess it really depends on your personal preference. I consider myself a decent writer, so while the papers were time-consuming, I didn't find them overly difficult. I managed to score 1-2 standard deviations above the mean in lab and above the mean in lecture, which helped me secure an A in both lecture and lab.

Overall, don't let what you've heard about this class scare you! It's definitely tough, but it's also definitely manageable!

I want to start by saying that Prof. Fristenberg is a very clear lecturer. Her slides were very clear and in general, this class's content is not tricky. What makes this class difficult is the workload. Overall, not as bad as people say it is.
1. Lectures can feel long and a bit repetitive. I never was able to get through a lecture in one sitting. I watched the recordings over the span of 2-3 days. Take notes during lecture, they will be useful. Lecture quizzes and exams also were not too difficult, if you understood lecture they aren't meant to be tricky.
2. Lab, this is where it gets hard. First, I felt like TAs made a difference here. I felt like my TA was a medium-strict grader, nothing was ever quite right for her. I wish that our rubrics were more clear. But this really pushed me to work harder. Lab is really long and it can be quite draining. It's insane how much can be done in 2 hours. Stay on top of your work and start early, at least 3-4 days before project deadlines. The group project is a lot of work and I was lucky to get a good group, but it really all depends on your group members. Another great reason to start early is so that you can ask your TA questions, my TA didn't really respond to email or messages often, which is understandable but a bit frustrating. Participation matters, which can feel unfairly competitive, but just answer questions and ask questions to demonstrate interest. By the end of quarter you really do feel over worked and drained, but you'll be so happy and thrilled once it's over. I was happy to have gotten an A-, but I felt like if it weren't for my TA, I probably could have gotten an A. Honestly NOT THAT BAD as what people make it seem to be.

Exams are tough. Do the practice questions that she gives, and make sure you completely understand them. The grading is weird. I believe everyone was under the assumption that the grades (split 50-50 between lecture and lab) would be based on our lab section's performance on lab stuff and the entire 300+ person average on lecture, but it seem's as if both components are based on our section alone. I did somewhat worse in lecture compared to someone else I talked to: I ended with an A-, he got a B+ but we're in different lab sections. Something worth keeping an eye on as you take this class.

Firstenberg is a great and engaging lecturer, and the content isn't that difficult to understand (I even thought it was interesting). I think the hardest parts about the class were the exams (could be tricky) and the lab assignments. I honestly really enjoyed the lecture portions and learned a lot, as Dr. Firstenberg uses a lot of real-life examples, but the lab part was harshly graded by my TA and even when I put a lot of effort in, I still didn't get the grades I wanted on the assignments. In the end, I got an A+ in lecture and an A- in lab, and since for Fall quarter 2020 grading was split 50% lecture and 50% lab, I ended up getting an A overall. I definitely don't think this class lives up to its monstrous reputation, but I agree that you definitely need to work hard to earn an A!

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