TAKE THIS CLASS!! 100% for my psych majors who need a low stress class/GPA booster. No exams, no homework except 2 readings per class period that range from ~1-7 pages each. Your grade heavily relies on group work; you get together to answer questions in a group which I found kind of fun! The only cons is the optional paper isn't really optional as you need to do it to get an A, but honestly it was super manageable (2-3 pages) and the fact that other students grade you and sometimes people would rate you low even if you participated. Nonetheless I ended up getting an A+ by doing the paper, extra credit, and completing questions with my team (you can miss 3 days of class no penalty!) prof Johnson is also super amazing! Accommodating and so funny!

If you're looking for a low stress class that has interesting material (if you're interested in developmental psych), take this class with Prof. Johnson. Participation matters, but all you need to do is work with a group of about 4-5 students to answer 5 questions twice a week, and grading is also fair. Your grade also depends on what the other students rate you as, but as long as you worked on your question well and helped members that were having trouble with theirs, you should have no issue getting full marks. You do need to complete SONA studies and a research proposal in order to get an A or higher in this class, but most students finished both of these in less than 2 days if you grasp the material well and have experience writing a psych paper (kind of like a watered-down PSYCH 100B intro). Overall, a great class I didn't need to worry about!

This class was alright. You have to go to lecture and work in small groups of 5-6 to answer questions on some assigned articles to read previously. However, in order to get an A or A+ you have to do the SONA extra credit as well as get points on an optional grant proposal graded out of 10. That was probably the most annoying part of the class, as well as the fact that sometimes your groupmates will grade you lower (most of your grade is based on participation, responses, and peer review) even though you did everything you could. For the most part though, everyone works well and does their part in group work, and the class is relatively low-stress.

It's Week 4 and I decided to drop this class, cuz I simply can't go on anymore lol...
Dr. Johnson is a good lecturer and very passionate about the subject. However, I find the material we go through in this class very very dry and boring... To be honest, 90% of the time, I don't understand the significance of the studies we go through. I recall there's often sentences like "this is the first study that xxxxxxxx", oh, well, maybe it's because no one thinks it's important. As one of the psych/cogsci undergraduates who don't have a lot experience in developmental psychology, I'm not saying those articles are actually pointless, I'm just saying it's hard for me to see the importance in them.
There's no exams in this class, total of 103 points—90 points from class activity (attendance, peer review, and combined group answers), 10 points from the (optional) paper, and 3 points from (optional) extra credit. To be honest, I'm very grateful that Dr. Johnson designed a class that doesn't require exams.
HOWEVER, the 90 points of class activity is really my least favorite part, while also the major part of the class. You will be assigned to a group of 7-8 people, and discuss about a question then write response. It's literally IMPOSSIBLE to have a discussion with 8 people in a auditorium class room. Plus, you will be rated anonymously by your peers based on how prepared you are and whether you've made contribution to the discussion. Like, I can't really hear people who sit farther at all, and I can't remember all their names... They change the group every 2 weeks, and the peer review grade only gets posted after you are assigned to a new group.Usually, people are kind and give everyone 10/10, but when they don't, it's hard to track who is the specific person to have you peer review score revised. If you've taken social psych, you know things like social evaluation stresses people out, and you get put into constant worries that other people have given you a low score. I don't like it one bit.
This is indeed an easy A class, but it's not for everyone. I wish everyone good luck!!!

Honestly of the best professors I took at UCLA. Very chill and makes students wanna come to class. He really cares about a student's success. He is always willing to help out and clarify any questions we have.
There are no quizzes nor exams! The course consisted of reading two papers per class and you answer questions with your assigned group towards the end of each class. He goes through a thorough lecture for each paper a few days before we are assigned to answer the questions. This was done to ensure that we have an understanding of the papers assigned to read. Also, he offered extra credit opportunities such as SONA credit and writing an optional paper which he tells you about from the start of the quarter, so you have plenty of time to write and prepare it (very doable)! If I had the option of taking another course with him I will! If any of you have the option of taking a class w/ him, DO IT!!!!!

AMAZING Professor. Really enjoyed all his lectures. He is very interesting. I liked the format of the class where we do group work for assignments. It was good being able to discuss the material with other students. I feel like that helped me understand everything more. The optional paper is not optional though! You have to do it if you want an A in the class. You could get an A- without it, but honestly just do the paper. It’s not bad.

Dr. Johnson has made this class thoroughly enjoyable and I know a lot of other students feel the same. In order to get an A in the course, you do need to do EC but the paper is flexible and allows students an opportunity to explore an aspect of perceptual development that they personally care about. If you’re happy with a B, then all you really need to do is show up for lecture and read the articles. Would recommend!

I learned more in this class than almost any other class I’ve taken in the three quarters here so far. Yes, the reviews are correct in that it’s an easy course load compared to others, but you get out what you put in. I care less about grades than I do making sure I’m learning, and that is def what happened in this class. As an added bonus, it is super feasible to get an A and learn too!

The material was interesting, sometimes challenging to grasp, but the professor and TA were super helpful in explaining anything I asked.
I must admit, working with groups was not my favorite but would take that over homework and assignments any day.

I recommend taking this class, the professor is A1! Stay up with the readings. The way he structures lecture is brilliant, perhaps that’s why I retained so much. He lectures and then you read the material he primed you on.

The optional research proposal was cool and I was glad to have an outlet for some of the creative research ideas that came up during the lectures and readings. Grades aren’t out yet but know it will at least be an A- if not an A+.

TAKE THIS CLASS. Professor Johnson structured this class so it super low stress, all you have to do is complete the readings which are often times pretty long, attend live Zoom lecture because after the lecture you will go to breakout rooms to discuss and answer some group questions which were sometimes challenging but doable and submit the answers by the end of class time. NO EXAMS, as long as you do what I mentioned and do well on the questions then you are guaranteed an A-. You also rate your classmates on their effort and contribution during breakout sessions but I was lucky to get the best groups who gave full points as long as you contributed to the questions. If you want to get an A or A+ you will have to write up your own research proposal which I actually enjoyed doing. Mine was only about 6-7 pages long and was able to get an A in the class. 100000/10 recommend to take this class with any other more challenging courses since it is very stress free. Professor Johnson is super approachable and it was a pleasure to take his course.

Dr. Johnson is a great professor! He is very friendly and has a wonderful personality. I took this course during Spring 2021 and it was one of my favorite courses throughout my college experience. The class is straightforward and has minimal workload. Participation is required and all you have to do is some short readings followed by easy groupwork assignments during class. I highly recommend this class!