This class is my absolute favorite class that I've taken at UCLA by far. This class also changed the way I see the world and people around me. Dr. Smurda is an amazing professor and her lectures were highly enjoyable and extremely interesting.

Like the other reviews mention, her grading is a bit unfair. Your entire grade is pretty much based on just the midterm and the final so beware. I have never studied so hard in my life before. I feel like I gained so much knowledge from this class and worked very hardly, yet the B I earned does not reflect how much effort I put in. However, the material is actually very interesting to study so at least you won't be bored!

Dr. Smurda is really funny, accommodating, and truly wants all of her students to succeed. I would highly recommend taking diligent notes and really tuning in to each lecture in order to do well. Her exams were closed note, which is another reason I had to study so hardly. Dr. Smurda offers extra credit opportunities as well, so if you want to boost your grade even more I would do those.

Overall, I would definitely recommend taking this class! Although I am usually a straight-A student and received a B in this class, I am still very glad I took it because I learned so much and see the world around me differently now. Take at your own risk.

I completely disagree with anyone who says that the tests for this class were unfair. The average on both exams was high and as long as you studied the slides and did the assigned reading, you could easily get an "A" on the tests. Dr. Smurda is my favorite professor because she actually cares about her students and spends time getting to know them and she will go the extra mile to help them during office hours. Her lectures were always engaging and interactive and the material was really interesting. I would highly recommend this class.

Okay so what's funny is that this class has taught me to not trust the grade distribution. The reason being that I entered this quarter taking this class as well as Cognitive Psychology and I was expecting (based of the grade distribution) to have to Pass No Pass this class and just get the A in CogPsych. But nope, I literally barely scraped by in 120A (CogPsych) giving it a decent amount of effort and got an A in this class giving it the same effort.

So with all that being said, I think it really just depends on what you're good at. If you did okay in 100B, you'll do fine in this class. I got an A- in 100B and an A in this class. It really. isn't hard at alllll if you put in at least some effort. The test was supposed to be hard but I got a 96% on it. It's hard to remember the last time I did that well on it. Literally all you have to know for this class is research methods and you're good.

I really like the subject! Professor Smurda is a great lecturer. Her lectures are engaging, and she makes the lectures fun by adding questions that the students answer into her lectures. This is one of my favorite classes.

Selling the textbook for this class for super cheap!! Text me **********

Love Professor Smurda. She is highly committed to student learning and would stay long after class to help out.
Selling the textbook: Conducting research in psychology: measuring the weight of smoke, by Brett W. Pelham and Hart Blanton. **********

As a psych major, this has been my favorite psych class I've taken so far. I loved how engaging the lectures were. I always looked forward to each lecture and loved being able to apply the concepts in class to my life. Professor Smurda is funny and her lectures have plenty of examples and engage the class. She's very approachable and has a wealth of knowledge. I found the readings interesting and didn't really see it as too much work. The tests were multiple choice and not that difficult. 100% recommend this class.

Psych 135 with Professor Smurda was very engaging and she makes her expectations clear from the beginning. The material is straightforward and may seem simplistic, but the terms can get confusing so it's better not to underestimate the tests and make sure to study!

Dr. Smurda is a wonderful lecturer and person. In this class, your grade will be based on 4 primary things: (1) midterm (2) paper (3) final (4) weekly quizzes. She provides ample extra credit to bolster your grade. This quarter, she was also incredibly lenient with the quizzes and actually dropped your lowest 2 grades. She's a very warm and welcoming professor, and you can tell she likes interacting with her students. If not for the material, take this class for her!

Overall the class was easy but the tests were poorly written in my opinion. The TAs were very helpful on the first exam and then didn’t give us much for the final. However, we got a front and back cheat sheet for the final but the averages for both exams were the same.