Took this class in Winter of 2023. There isn't a grade breakdown in the syllabus, which was confusing for me, but basically, the grade is split into 3 units. The first unit was the MRI unit/paper, the second was a dementia unit/question-based short answer paper, and the third was a neuroanatomy unit and quiz (which ended up being our final).

For the first two units, you get several "drafts" that you submit for 4 points (out of the 100 for the entire unit). These were graded harshly but offered a lot of feedback and as long as you revised them, you could get full points on the final paper (which was worth 88 and 92 points/100 for units 1 and 2 respectively) pretty easily in my opinion. The TAs were very helpful - they're the ones grading a majority of the papers. Dr. Grisham was also readily available to answer questions - his answers are sometimes confusing but still definitely helped.

The neuroanatomy unit was really interesting. You get to dissect lamb brains, and we had several human brains as well. The slides were a bit confusing, but the TAs did a great job with the final review. Dr. Grisham also loves to talk about brains, so he'll also be really enthusiastic if you ask him any questions. The final was 50 Q short answer (it was not easy). However, I did find the questions fair, and as long as you pay attention in class/slides it was manageable. Office hours during finals week also helped A LOT.

The labs are recorded but quality-wise, not super great. I would recommend going to class AND paying attention. Overall, not the easiest class in the world but still very rewarding and would recommend it.

Absolute shit show of a class. Don't take it.

This review is for 116B, Grisham's experimental class with fewer people and 10x the chaos. Please heed this warning: do not take this class if you cannot take it pass/no pass. I'm a hard worker but this class was insanity. Little organization, less clarity. You have to write a full research paper that's due on Monday of Week 3. The neuroanatomy quizzes are atrocious, the papers are barely better. Grading is often arbitrary. Take the regular 116, with the other professors if at all possible. I took this as a last resort because I had a bad pass time and I had to graduate. If you take 116B, good luck.

This was one of the most interesting but also most challenging Psych courses I've ever took. From both an academic/professional and personal interest standpoint, the content was extremely rewarding; we learned about psychometrics, research methods, and academic writing more than just about any other psych class offered at UCLA and had the wonderful opportunity to dissect "juicy brains." If you have strong interest in the subject matter (like myself), I strongly recommend taking this course.

With that being said, I believe that this is one of the hardest courses in the Psych department. It doesn't look too bad in terms of grade distribution (a decent chunk of the class usually gets As), but that's also keeping in mind that the people who chose to take this class are likely those who also did well in Psych 115. Attendance is mandatory, and nothing is multiple choice. Our first two units (psychological testing and MRI analysis) culminated in lengthy APA-style papers, which were challenging but (in my opinion) graded VERY leniently. The final unit included a 57-question neuroanatomy exam, which was the most difficult Psych exam I have ever took. It was ~30% of our grade, and the median was around a C+. Make sure to pay attention in class, as some of the exam content is only really mentioned verbally/isn't obvious just by looking at the slides.

In the end though, it was incredibly refreshing to have a small, interactive class size with teaching staff who were legitimately invested in our learning. The TAs were amazing, and the professor (although he can seem intimidating at first) is really sweet and always happy to re-explain content. The research methods/psychometrics portion of the course taught me so much invaluable knowledge for grad school--I'd say even more so than some courses "relevant" to my subject area. If you're willing to put in the work, this class will be worth it.

Wonderful professor who loves what he does and loves his students. I would take the class again just because of how wonderful the professor is. However, the lectures and assignments lacked structure which caused most of the students to be very confused most of the time. The assignments are graded pretty hard even though there is no structure which is frustrating. The TAs were super helpful in clarifying the things the students were confused about so that really helped. Stephanie is amazing, if she is your TA take the class because she will make everything make sense.

Although this class is one of the hardest I have ever taken at UCLA, I hands down think it was my favorite. The small class size was incredible, and with so many TAs and LAs, you felt so supported. By all means, it was difficult and alot of work, but I loved my classmates and honestly always enjoyed my time in lab. I also felt as though I learned things that really mattered.

Don't let the past reviews scare you, this is one of the best (and easiest) classes you could take at UCLA. Dr. Grisham is so sharp and engaging and I never found this class boring, everything you need to know he gives directly to you and the only unit that is super content/memorization heavy is the neuroanatomy unit (which is still manageable, especially if you've taken any classes having to do with neuroanatomy in the past).

The first unit has to do with contrasting two different theories of thought and running our own experiment in order to determine which theory holds more weight. This unit included submitting a few different written assignments (a gist of articles, a draft of an abstract, a written explanation of main effects and interactions, and a full lab report). Don't let these intimidate you, he walks you through all of them.

The second unit is the neuroanatomy unit, where you'll examine brains and learn about different areas and their functions. This unit included two short answer quizzes and one full length short answer exam. Several questions on the exam were straight from the quizzes, and none of them were trick questions or things that had not been extensively gone over in class.

The third unit is analysis of some MRI imaging involving ADHD patients. For this unit we had to answer questions about the results we found in comparison to the results found in an article that he provides us at the beginning of the unit. Again, he walked us through how to answer all of these questions and let us know exactly what he was expecting.

It's super easy to do well in this class. Attendance is mandatory but even if it wasn't you would be unable to pass this class if you tried to do it asynchronously. I wish Dr. Grisham taught every psychobiology class

Dr. Grisham is one of the most caring and tenderhearted professors I have ever met. People are often quick to judge and find that the material is too difficult or that he doesn't leave enough instruction for assignments. However, I discovered that he is accommodating and that the teaching staff genuinely cares for the students and their wellbeing. I love the wet lab, and although the course material can be complex, Dr.Grisham does his best to make it fun and engaging. I highly recommend getting to know him!

Took this over C session and it was much smoother than I had thought. Overall, I would recommend this class to anyone needing to take it/ doesnt want to take 116A. I would always rewatch the lectures and take notes (on every single thing he said) on them and study that for my quizzes. Very knowledgeable professor and thoroughly explains things. This class by nature is not meant to be easy, so if you study you should be fine. Also, he gives plenty of extra credit which helps out A LOT.

The class seemed very unorganized, there were some issues with deadlines on the syllabus vs on CCLE, which can get very frustrating if you are trying to plan your study time/week. The workload in this class was extremely heavy, so if you are taking other upper divs, don't take this class. We had assignments due every single week, on top of that there were quizzes and complete research papers due. With each research paper, we had to read many other research papers to write our own. The grading was very opinionated, meaning that I could easily differentiate, which part was graded by which TA. One of the TAs was a hard grader, which makes me feel like he was not going off the rubric and was rather being petty. The experimental parts of the class were pretty fun and engaging after the directions have been cleared up. Overall, I am glad I passed this class and that it is over. If you have another alternative, I would recommend taking another class.