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good professor but hard class you have to study a lot and work really hard

This class was tough but fair. The amount of effort you put in is what you'll grade you'll get. I didn't put that much work in and ended up with a B. As the other reviews say, the tests and clicker quizzes are entirely based on the lectures which are bruincasted and the slides are posted. Study them in depth and you're fine. No need to read anything else. Don't buy the textbook there's no point. He's a good lecturer and you will learn a lot so overall it's a good class.

Professor Rissman was a really good professor! The content in the course was very interesting and exams are extremely fair. To do well in the class you do have to put in the work, which means knowing all of the info on the slides and quizzes, which can admittedly be alot if you dont manage your time or study efficiently. Overall, really enjoyed taking Psych 85 with him, he was nice and very direct with the tested concepts.

The material was pretty dense at first but got progressively better (and more interesting) as the quarter went on. There are a lot of terms and nuances to pick out so make sure to read the slides in depth and listen to lecture a second time.

Professor Rissman can come off as shy/awkward but is very approachable and kind. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to take our final online. In order to make things better for us, he adjusted the weights of the midterm/final and changed the structure of the final just a tad bit.

A great class with a great professor!

Let me start off and say that I had a D+ after I took the midterm. I got a 61.5 on the midterm and I had an average of 80% on the quizzes. I was so nervous for my future in this class. I didn’t know if I should drop or just accept I would probably get a D+ or a C in the class. I talked to both the professor and TA, and they encouraged me to stay and find different ways to study. I started to get 100% on the quizzes. However, I knew I had to get at least a C on the final to get a C in the class. I had to do exceptionally well to get a low B, so I decided to aim for a C. The class started to get more interesting towards the end when we started to talk about artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, COVID-19 started to disrupt our classes and eventually brought an end to in person lectures. Professor Rissman was so encouraging and understanding during this time. He decided to reweigh the class and basically whatever test we did better on, would count as 45% of your grade. This gave me high hopes but once again, I wasn’t expecting much. I ended up doing super well on the final and ended up with an A-. Professor Rissman made the final very fair and as long as you studied the slides, you were guaranteed an A. Professor Rissman, is a passionate and funny professor who honestly cares for his students , so go to his office hours, you won’t regret it :).

I do not recommend anyone else for 120A besides Jesse. He truly cares for his students and made a lot of accommodations for us amidst the pandemic. His exams are tricky, you need to study, exams are closed notes/book so you can't rely on your notes. I got a C on the midterm from not studying and a B+ on the final with minimal studying; LOTS of people got As and even 100% on the exams, again, if you study enough, the tests will be a breeze. There's lot's of assignments and quizzes where you can earn points to redeem yourself if you don't perform well on the tests. He also offers extra credit through SONA. I was able to still get an A in the course despite not performing too well on the exams. Take him!!!

Okay so I just want to leave this review to show that sometimes a class that everyone loves can be worse for some people than a class that everyone hates. My example would be this class and 100B. I loved 100B and got an A- in it. I hated this class and got C's on the exams, which isn't like me at all. Professor Rissman is a phenomenal professor, but I found the exams to be unfair and too challenging. I would even go over problems I got wrong on the exam with my T.A. and at one point the T.A. didn't even know why I got it wrong. In my opinion, the exams were extremely difficult. I guess with all that being said, the class was super easy for some people, so I think it really just depends on how your mind works. I guess mine didn't work with this class because I went into it expecting to do well and that's not at all what happened for me.

One of the best professors I've had at UCLA. His lectures on bias and discrimination in policing were really insightful. He was always very approachable and I felt like I got so much more out of this class from his teaching style. He was super empathetic and supportive throughout everything going on during spring (COVID-19, BLM protests); during the protests, he even dedicated some class time to talk about how we felt. I agree with the other reviews, he truly cares about his students' success and wellbeing. All around, great professor and human being. Thank you Dr. Rissman!

So far, in my limited experience of one year and one quarter as a transfer here at UCLA, this has been hands—down my favorite class I’ve taken. Not only is the subject matter incredibly interesting to me, Professor Rissman also makes his lectures very engaging and somewhat funny. At least for the summer, all of his lectures were pre-recorded, and the only attendance that was required was the discussion attendance. Class materials for the class were fairly priced. He used an online rental service for the textbook, which included the required extra practice ZAPS modules, all for around $75. However, while the book is helpful, it’s not necessarily needed, so you can completely get around this cost by not buying the book and finishing all of the ZAPS modules within the free trial. The grade was broken down into three big ticket items (Two tests and an essay) and a few more smaller items that weren’t worth as much (ZAPS modules, quizzes, and discussion attendance). You can also get up to 2% extra credit by doing 4 sona studies. The tests were very fair imo and were similar in structure to the questions that he asked in his quizzes. The quizzes are open-note, but the tests are not and are done through the respondus browser. Overall, while this class is quite a bit more work than some other psychology classes, it was well-worth it, and I would highly recommend taking 120a with Rissman.