I enjoyed this class way more than I thought I would! Professor Lou is very helpful and well-informed on the topic. He loves when students ask him questions and answers them in a way that makes you think about things critically. I found the final project portion very fun and although I felt very lost in the beginning of the course, I’m very glad I stuck with it because it was definitely one of the most interesting classes I’ve taken at ucla!

I would highly recommend this class to anyone, regardless of whether you have prior experience in Signal Detection Theory. The material is very applicable and intuitive once you get the hang of it. Professor Liu is excellent at explaining difficult concepts and often provides detailed examples that further simplify complex ideas. He is rigorous yet, incredibly accommodating--on some occasions moving due dates and the midterm date to account for holidays and other events. It is clear that Professor Liu is passionate and cares about his students. He often takes the time to meet with students one on one. The class was very hands on and this was by far my favorite class at UCLA. I came in knowing nothing about Signal Detection theory and left the class wanting to conduct my own study.

Homework assignments are short and challenging, but manageable. A useful cheat sheet is provided on exams that should provide every equation needed. Exams are also modeled after homework questions and/or extensions of them. There are multiple opportunities for extra credit, including SONA studies, an optional homework assignment, and bonus exam questions. The final project was my favorite part of the class. This project was done in pairs of two and consisted of designing and programming an experiment, having everyone in the class run it, and presenting the results. It was incredibly fun being a test subject and running through everyone's experiment.

All in all, I would highly recommend taking Professor Liu's Signal Detection Theory course (one of the only SDT courses taught in undergrad!)

This class is kind of challenging, but Professor Liu is super kind, supportive, and knowledgeable! The material involves a good amount of math and statistics, so having a background in those areas will make it easier. There are 7 homework assignments, a group project, a midterm, and a final.
Professor Liu is really approachable and always willing to answer questions—whether they’re about the class material, project topics, or even broader psychology-related questions. The signal detection theory we learned is super useful for psychology research, and I gained a lot of valuable experience and knowledge from this class.
Even though the topics can be tough, asking questions and getting help from Professor Liu and the TAs makes a huge difference. The materials totally doable if pay attention for the conceptual understanding, and the learning environment is really accommodating and engaging. Don’t be scared—Professor Liu is awesome and genuinely wants you to succeed!

Don’t take this class even if you are interested in the subject. Rude and unhelpful professor who didn’t even tell the TA what was happening half the time. However, if you wanna learn from just the textbook and you already know stuff about signal detection, then it should be okay.

His psychophysics and signal detection theory class was one of my favorite classes at UCLA. The exam was impossibly long, though! He is a very concerned professor and does a great job answering the discussion board.