I was really scared to take this class at first, but it ended up being one of my favorite psychobio electives! Professor Knowlton is very kind and keeps her lectures very concise and clear. She also took the time to learn most/all of our names which was the first time I've ever had a professor go out of their way to do that. The lectures are easy to follow, and if you have any questions, Professor Knowlton welcomes them both during lecture and in office hours. The textbook is also a great resource for this class, it's an easy and engaging read if you want a little more elaboration on the concepts being discussed in lecture, but honestly isn't a requirement for success in the class.

The class was on a 300 point scale. There were 3 exams. The first midterm was 15 questions and free response, worth 75 points. The second midterm and final were both 20 questions and free response, each being worth 100 points. The exams are not cumulative so there were only about 4 lectures worth of content on each exam, making it very manageable. The other 25 points came from attendance which you only needed to attend 6 lectures in order to get full points. There was also 16 points of extra credit offered, 10 for completing 2 SONA studies, 5 for completing pre & post test surveys, and 1 for getting 80% of responses on evals.

Overall, this class was very fair. You definitely need to study for the exams, but as long as you attend lecture and review, the class is doable and it's a great chance to have a small, intimate class!

I actually had a really good time in this class! Professor Knowlton was extremely helpful in office hours (she spent 20 minutes explaining one thing to me that I didn't understand, until I understood it) and she obviously knows what she's talking about in the material. I have NEVER liked any academic textbook, but the Cognitive Neuroscience textbook listed for this class was actually very interesting. I truly enjoyed learning about the neurological pathways and very interesting experiments!

Course out of 300 points
Exams: 80/100/100, non-cumulative (so you can really focus on 2-3 weeks of content! How I studied for this class successfully was to focus on ONE lecture a day, leading up to the exam). Short answer, plenty of time to take it. She also "curves" the grading, boosting by around 5-10%
Homework: None
Extra credit: 15 points! 5% of grade taking a short pre-post- exam survey + SONA credit

The only downside is that this class is not recorded/podcasted, although Knowlton encouraged us to record for our peers. You have to attend 10 out of 15 lectures for participation/extra credit.

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!!! Professor Knowlton is a extremely poor professor. Her lectures are unorganized, scattered, and cover approximately 5% of the material she demands her students know for the exams. She never once offered any study session, review, or help for us. I was sick the last tow weeks of class, which also happened to be the extent of the material for the final since her exams are non-cumulative, and she was completely uncooperative with offering me any help. I e-mailed her 5 times before I even got an answer, and she was no help. I think she is completely undeserving to be a professor at such a reputable university, a university I am proud to be a part of. I have contacted the psychology department with my concerns about the quality of her teaching and her lack of concern for her students! The textbook was lacking, as some of the other students have mentioned as well.

This course was the STUPIDEST Psychobio elective course I have EVER taken...granted I did learn a lot from the class, however, this was ONLY due to the fact that in order to get EVEN a OK grade you had to read the ENTIRE book and attend every class...forget office hours...theyre no help...most ambiguous answers I have gotten from ANY teacher thus far at UCLA. Please kids, if you need an elective course....look over this one...