I'm not sure how much more difficult/easy this class is in an online format as well as over the 6-week summer session, so I cannot say for sure that my insight will be totally relevant for future students taking this class, but, quite simply, I think this class's difficulty level is exaggerated. It's certainly a tough class that requires a lot of time and work, and so I think taking it over the summer (regardless of whether online or in-person) with no other classes to worry about is a great option for everyone (although the grading scheme is flipped so that lab is 60% and lecture/exam is 40%). In my session, we did not have to collect our own data for our research paper, due to the shortness of summer as well as us being online because of COVID. This probably relieved a lot of stress the class would've caused otherwise.

I went into this class absolutely terrified, expecting to get a B at best, as I had read over the reviews and looked over grade distributions over and over. I think, now that I've actually done the class, that many of the poor experiences with this class can be traced to whether the student has an interest in going into research. I personally aim to go into clinical psychology and am in research labs already, so I was really interested in the material and very enthusiastic to learn, and I ended up performing really well. Unless this class is a pre-req for you (in which case you have to take it either way), don't take it if you aren't interested in research. That being said, if you already have research experience and/or are interested in the topic, this class should be more than manageable, especially if you have a TA who's a fair grader.

I've heard from peers that their TAs were really hardcore and unfair in grading, and I think that's where potential issues lie. My TA (Taylor Hazelbaker) was phenomenal, and was extremely clear and fair in how she graded, such that the curve was correlated with what a typical grading scheme would look like. Even if you do get a tough TA, though, the class is graded on a curve based on your specific lab section (rather than being relative to the entire class). So, even if you got a 70 on an assignment, it's possible for that grade to be considered an A (if the average is 60, for example). You won't really be able to know what exactly your grade is until everything is turned in and graded, but you can get a sense of where you're at based on your grade relative to the average and standard deviation as provided by your TA. Regardless, it's key to go to your TA's office hours. TAs won't be able to read over your papers, but they can answer a multitude of questions that will ultimately help you write a paper that has what they're looking for. I genuinely think my grades would have been much worse had I not checked in with my TA so often. Additionally, it's important to meet often with your lab group once you're assigned to one. You guys will be writing your experiment proposal together as well as creating your materials together.

In terms of the lecture-based component, there was only one final exam as well as 4 quizzes (one each week leading up to the final exam), all multiple choice. You don't really need to read the textbook for these, although it can help clarify things you're unsure about. Prof. Firstenberg doesn't include questions that the lecture material cannot answer on its own, though. Prof. Firstenberg provides 4 practice exams (2 short, 2 long) that I cannot urge you enough to use. They're the exact same format as the actual exam(s), and provide really good practice for the types of questions this class uses. These questions are less fact-based and much more practice/concept-based, providing you with a description of a research study and asking you to identify flaws in it, what design it was, what you could conclude from it, etc. There are a lot of "A, B, and C"/"A and B, but not C"/"none of the above" type answers, so it's critical that you read closely. Again, the practice exams will absolutely prepare you for this. The questions can be tricky, but they're totally doable and the material itself is not hard. You just need to read closely and think through your answers. The examples that Prof. Firstenberg gives during lecture are also very helpful, so make sure to include those in whatever notes you take (although, the exams online are open-note, so you can always download the powerpoint PDFs and go through them--they won't be on ccle during the actual exam, so make sure to keep them for yourself).

To conclude this very long-winded review, I'll include my grades as well as the averages and SDs (when known), so to give an idea of how I got the final grade that I did:

*Weekly quizzes: 11/12 (mean=9.19, SD=1.78)

*Final exam: 38/40 (mean=33.60, SD=4.60)

*Study Strategy Proposal: 96/100 (mean=82.14, SD=10.90)

*Group Project Proposal: 87/100 (mean=87.57, SD=4.02)

*Final Research Paper: 94/100 (mean and SD unknown)

*Discussion Section: 90/100 (mean and SD unknown)

In terms of the assignments (since I realize it might be unclear as to what exactly these assignments are), there are only 3 graded papers you need to worry about, at least online and during the summer. The first assignment (which is 15% of your lab grade), the "study strategy proposal," is a set of questions asking you to come up with a simple experiment regarding a type of study strategy for students to use. You basically go over the hypothetical design, procedure, and potential implications for the results. This is basically the same format used for the group project proposal (also 15% of your lab grade), in which you and your assigned group plan out your own experiment based on a specific experiment topic assigned to you (for example, my group and I got the topic "Impression Formation"). The final research paper is your write-up based on the group project proposal, and includes a title page, introduction, method section, and references. It's the largest portion of your lab grade, with the write-up amounting to 25% (submitted individually). There's another 5% for your project materials (submitted as a group), amounting to 30% total for the final project submission.

I'm sure there are some details I've left out, but past reviews have covered them really well. Please don't scare yourself over this class too much--it's really doable if you're actually interested in the material. :)

Everyone loves talking about how Iris is an amazing professor. Don't listen to them, she's not. While her lectures aren't super boring, they can be dry. AND while she's not the one who grades our labs (it is your TA) they are grading us on the super difficult rubric given to them by Iris. My TA kept saying that the professor doesn't give them the rubric until the papers are submitted. If you get a TA who has never been a TA for this class (like me), this means that they cannot accurately help students on the paper because they too do not know the errors to look out for. TRUTH BE TOLD, a professor who is so 'amazing' shouldn't have her TA's dock students for stupid reasons. The day I realized the class is set up for people to fail is when my TA docked me a point when I mentioned we needed a stopwatch for one of the experiments, but my TA felt like I should have mentioned we needed a stopwatch two lines ABOVE where I mentioned it (everything was in the same paragraph). Imagine following the APA manual to a t but still getting docked for stupid things like this. And you may say, "oh, it's just a point." These points add up and my paper was riddled with "-1" for such minuscule reasons.

ALSO, start studying well in advance for the midterm and final. Understand that her tests are designed to trick you, so to do well, you reallllllyyyyy need to know the material. That was my problem, I studied how I usually study for my other classes, but got a 72 on both the midterm and the final. Thank God I ended up with an A in the lab portion, or I would have not passed this class. If you are smart, you will take this class either over the summer here or at UC Irvine over the summer where it is super easy and won't ruin your GPA. You're welcome.

DON'T READ THIS IF YOU'RE ALREADY SCARED ABOUT THIS CLASS!!!!!!

I hated this class with my entire existence. I'm sorry. I read the reviews for this class last quarter and I freaked out. Everyones reviews were terrible and I said to myself "I'm going to fail." I had a 4.0 going into this class and am now at a 3.6. This class shouldn't be a class and if it is, it should either be less units or it should be easier. The fact that this is, from what I know, the only class on campus that's 6.0 units is ridiculous. The fact of the matter is, I don't want to be a researcher and this class shouldn't be this difficult. It's ridiculous.
People did make it seem scarier than what it was but it all depends on your TA. Professor is really good, she explains it really well and she is a great. I truly enjoyed having her as a professor so no harm to her. But the class itself and I mean the exams, are almost impossible.
My TA told me that because people got 100s on the midterm they make the final harder so no one gets 100 because according to them, "only professors get 100s." And I thought she was lying but I guess she was telling the truth because no one got a 100 on the final.
I got a 99 on my research paper and performed above the average in lab. The exams were terrible. There's no reason it should be this hard. I don't care what the professor tells you but this class is made for you to fail and to ruin your GPA. I never wanted to be a researcher, I never want to be a researcher and I understand you need a research class as a psych major, but other UCs' research classes are not as impossible. I'm pretty salty and I don't mean to scare anyone I know how scary it can be to take this class, I was freaked out for 2 years after reading Bruinwalk. You're better going into the class knowing it's hard, but not impossible. Just try your best. I don't mean to bring anyone down it's just pretty discouraging. And UCLA should really reevaluate this class. Curve is really big for the final grade, but the exams are difficult and terrible. I think they meet up and make sure the questions are impossible. Also I got maybe one wrong in all the practice exams, but the exams are different. I don't know.
Because of this class that I don't need, it ruined everything I worked for, for 3 years.

Psych 100B was definitely the class that I dreaded the most as a psych major, but it turned out alright. We were allowed to take this class P/NP this quarter (Fall 2020), but I turned in my petition too late and did not change my grading scheme. This was the best thing that can possibly happen because I ended up with an A+.
Structure of the class and My Tips:
7 lectures: The material is not difficult to understand and Professor Firstenberg is an engaging lecturer. Take detailed notes and that will make your life a lot easier. I would try to watch it a day before I have to take my quiz so the material is still fresh in my mind.
Two 2-hour Labs weekly: Honestly, this was the most exhausting part of the class besides the assignments. I feel like a big portion of labs was a waste of my time. Oftentimes, there will be breakout rooms where we get into groups to work on an assignment together and then present our answers to the class. This would take a long time and I feel like I did not gain much from this. However, lab is very useful when the TA discusses how to write assignments, so definitely pay attention and ask questions during this time. Participation is mandatory, you cannot miss any lab. Our TA tallied how many times we spoke or wrote in the chat for our participation points. Try to speak as many times as you can and come up with questions to get the points.
5 Quizzes: This happens during the beginning of the second lab of each week, and it happens during weeks 2-7 (excluding exam week). Three questions and you have around 10 minutes to complete it. They were open-notes and relatively straightforward. Make sure you understand the material and have good notes beforehand.
Exams: While two practice exams were given, they are easier than the exams themselves. But, they are the closest thing you can get to the exam so utilize them! The exams were open book but do not think you can rely on your notes to do well because the questions were pretty confusing. To do well, you really have to know the concepts and how to apply them. The best way to study was to go through all lecture notes and if you don’t understand something completely, rewatch that part of the lecture. I typed out a study guide while studying that I can also refer to during the exam. Complete both practice exams and make sure you understand every single problem; this means understanding why the correct answer is correct and why the wrong answers are wrong. I skimmed through the textbook but there weren’t many questions on the exams regarding topics in the book. Read if you have time but it is not the end of the world if you don’t read.
Group Work: Most of the lab assignments are based on an experiment you and your group will conduct. If you get hardworking group mates, then you are very lucky. If you don’t, you really have to put in the effort because the two biggest lab assignments are based on this experiment. You will design the experiment, complete the Project Proposal Assignment, and create the materials with your group. If your group sucks, express it all in the group participation survey.
Assignments: Four writing assignments total and besides the one I mentioned above, the other three are all individual work. Your lab grade is curved within your lab section. It is curved in a way that you have to score well above the mean to get a good grade which really sucks. This is also why it is not always good to have a TA who grades easily. I had a great TA who was encouraging and was always open to helping us with our assignments. The averages for the assignments always fell around the 80% mark. Always ask your TA for clarification for anything you do not understand. While, they cannot explicitly help you write your paper, ask them what they look for in the assignment. Follow the rubric as closely as possible, do not miss a single thing. I think this is how I earned good grades on my assignments. Become comfortable with the APA format. The workbook does touch on how to write some of the assignments, but I felt that it was not very useful. My TA also provided screenshots of the pages in their slides, so the workbook wasn't very needed. A lot of the reviews say to start the assignment WAY ahead of time; I think that is good advice but I didn’t really do that. I usually started brainstorming and outlining a few days before it was due and then write it out in one or two days, usually finishing on the day it was due. I had a later lab time which means I can do a final edit the day it was due which places less stress on me. I strongly believe that outlining is the most important part, once you have a good outline, writing will be much easier. Always create your outline with your rubric pulled up to make sure you hit the main points. You should also do a final edit with fresh eyes or else you will miss your mistakes. I want to again stress how important it is to follow the rubric and to make sure your assignment follows the required APA format before you turn it in.
Other stuff: There will be small homework assignments throughout that will be counted towards your participation grade. They were relatively easy and straightforward.
The following are my stats. The course is divided into two sections: lecture and lab. They are both worth 50% of the grade and different assignments are further broken down in both sections.
For Lab:
Participation (15%) - Unknown, I think I was around the average for individual participation
Study Strategy Proposal (15%) - 94/100 (avg: 81, SD: 16)
Project Proposal/Group Project (10%) - 98/100 (I think the avg was around 93%)
Final Project (40%) - 97/100 (avg: 82, SD: 20)
Discussion Section Short Answers Assignment (20%) - 60/60 (avg: 51, SD: 11)
Overall Lab Grade: A
For lecture (I think each question is worth the same number of points):
Exam 1: 40/40 (avg: 33)
Exam 2: 38/40 (avg: 33)
Quizzes: 100% (avg: unknown)
Overall Lecture Grade: A+
Summary: I am not sure how the professor curved the class but I know a lot of people regretted not taking this class for a letter grade. It seems like there was a decent curve. You won’t really know how you stand in the class during week 10, so try to make the best decision you can regarding the grading type. Don’t worry too much about your individual assignment grades, and instead focus on how you compare to the other students in your lab (the competition really sucks though). I don’t think I am a great writer but I definitely think if you are a good writer, you will have a much easier time in this class. I think a lot of the work is in the planning/brainstorming process, so definitely don’t leave everything to the day before it is due. Try to become comfortable with speaking to your TA, they will be your best resource. Don’t do your assignments last minute or big mistakes will slip through. I personally did not find this class as horrible as people say, but it was very demanding and the assignments were very tedious. You will need to dedicate a large chunk of your time to this class so be prepared. I have cried a couple of times due to this class and I pulled through, so stay hopeful!

I heard so many bad things about this class and tbh was very afraid. I'm a psychobiology major on a pre-med track and none of my other classes have scared me so much going into it. However, I really don't think this class is all that bad. The workload sometimes seems like a lot. However, that's not because there's a lot of assignments. The curve in the lab portion of the class kind of forces you to spend a lot of time on the assignments because you can get points taken off for the smallest things. The tests were very fair and the professor provides a lot of practice beforehand. Lectures were extremely engaging (they were prerecorded), quizzes were based on lectures and were fair, and the lead TAs (Manisha and Ginny) did a very good job of answering students' questions before tests. They had a discussion forum where we could ask questions and they were always answered within a day.

This class is known for its horrible curve. The lecture grade can only be curved to benefit you but the lab curve may hurt you. This quarter the mean was set to a B-, which made it a little easier to estimate your lab grade.
My Stats: (Overall A)
<Lecture>
Exam 1: 38/40 (AVG 33/40)
Exam 2: 39/40 (AVG 33/40)
Quizzes: 14/15
<Lab>
Study Strategy Proposal (worth 15%): 85/100 (AVG: 79.2 SD:8.17)
Project Proposal (worth 10%): 91/100 (AVG: 85.35 SD: 3.62)
Final Project Write-Up/Materials (worth 40%): 90/100 (AVG: 85.63 SD: 5.09)
Discussion Short Answers (worth 20%): (56/60) (AVG: 53.3 SD: 3.36)
Participation (worth 15%): Not sure what I got but I assume that it was good enough since I participated in class and attended office hours several times.

Exam Tips:
1. Do the practice exams well in advance. Take note of the questions you got wrong. Go back to the questions you got wrong after several days when the exam gets closer and redo them. The practice exams reflect the actual exam very well.
2. Redo all quizzes before the exams. The more practice you get the better.
3. These exams have a lot of "A&B" and "none of the above" type answers, which can get very confusing. Don't overthink it. Try to answer the question before even looking at the answers. Then go through each answer and eliminate!
4. Don't try to read between the lines in the questions. Only answer according to what is given in the question. Do not assume!
5. Keep a separate piece of paper where you write down all of the important info about the experiment being discussed. Write down things that may be questioned such as the type of study, IVs, DVs, confounding variables, and EVs.

Lab Tips:
1. Start all writing assignments as soon as you get them! I can not reiterate this enough! Try to get through the assignment before your TA's office hours. Write down all questions you have regarding the assignment and ask your TA at office hours. Your TA is the one grading so ask them very specific questions. You do not want to miss little points.
2. Reread your completed assignment multiple times and have someone else also read it. Read through it once to check if you fulfilled the rubric. Read through it once to check for tense. Read through it again to check for conciseness.
3. Model your assignments to examples given in class. This will make your life easy. Don't try to get super creative. Keep the assignments simple and to the point.

Lastly, do not get caught up in what everyone is saying on the GroupMe! Everyone has a different TA so everyone will be graded differently. Ask your TA for help even for the smallest things!

Overall, this class does take hard work. It was not an easy A but if you do the practice exams multiple times, study the quizzes, start early on assignments, and attend your TA's office hours things will be easier for you. Do not let this class scare you. You're here at UCLA for a reason.

Let me first say, I have heard a lot of bad things about this class that simply were not true and actually quite the contrary. I really enjoyed Professor Firstenbergs's lectures and found them to be genuinely engaging (yes, even at 8 a.m.) and informative. The purpose of this class is to help students become smarter, more skeptical consumers of information and I believe that was achieved for most. In regard to the lab section of this class, in which all of the group work in conducted, I found this aspect of the class to be fast-paced and challenging but rewarding. This part of the class is done through process of scaffolding for lack of a better word. In other words, you start small and build on new concepts with the help of your T.A. until you reach your final project. There is plenty of practice and room for questions in lab and the T.A. is there to help you! My T.A., Manisha, was SO HELPFUL and answered any and all questions that were asked and you could tell that her goal was genuinely to enhance our learning experience and ease any anxiety or obstacles we were facing. Overall, this was an interesting and informative class!

To my surprise, I found this class extremely enjoyable. In addition to being a crystal clear lecturer, Dr. Firstenberg has set up the class so that everything is super organized (the syllabus is like 20 pages long with almost everything you need to know about course structure) and the teaching staff are there to help you every step along the way. I know reviews in recent quarters have been mixed, but I honestly feel that may just be because she may not have been as effective of an instructor online as she is in-person (this was the first quarter in a while she taught in-person). During the lectures, you can really tell she is passionate about psych research and is fully invested in supporting her students.

As far as course content, depth is emphasized a lot more than breadth. What I mean is that we only had 7 lectures of actual content, but in order to do well you needed to know the material in great detail and be able to apply it. The exams are challenging but doable. While I felt like Exam 1 (mean = 102.6/120) was an accurate reflection of the practice exams, Exam 2 (mean = 99.5/120) was quite a bit trickier. It wasn't necessarily unfair, but I found little overlap between the study designs emphasized on the practice exams and the ones emphasized on Exam 2. In short, the scenarios and questions were more difficult. For each graded lab assignment, you are given a very detailed rubric. In my discussion section, averages for graded lab assignments were always high (B+/A-), so as long as you follow the rubrics (intentionally including more detail than necessary) you should be fine. However, some of the graded lab assignments became completion-based this quarter due to the TA strike, so this is just my experience based on the Correlational Design and Simple Experiment homeworks.

Overall, I definitely don't feel like this is a class designed to weed people out of the psych major anymore. Nevertheless, I wouldn't necessarily call this class an easy A. You do need to put in the work, and I acknowledge that there probably were some students who struggled with the exams and writing assignments. Yet everything considered, I had a very pleasant experience in this class. If you want to acquire a solid foundational knowledge of psych research, definitely take Dr. Firstenberg!

So it's finally time to review perhaps the most daunting, difficult class of the psychology major. After reading so many reviews for this class and taking it in Fall 2020 online, I feel obligated to provide my own insight into this class now.

Fall 2020 was the first time that the psych department accepted P/NP for this class in accepting it as a prereq for the major, so I took it P/NP to try and preserve my GPA. Turns out that was a good move; if not for the P/NP I probably would end up with a B/B+.

The lecture part of this class is deceptive. There's only about 7 lectures, all prerecorded and released every week. The content for this class is very easy and the 5 quizzes are also fairly easy; however, the exams are NOT easy whatsoever. You will get two practice exams ahead of the actual two exams, but despite the content and question formatting being similar, the actual difficulty of the real exams is MUCH GREATER than the practice exams. By this I mean that the questions and answers of your actual midterm and final tests are far more confusing and difficult; looking over the correct answers afterwards and trying to make sense of what the TAs offered as explanations did not help much at all. The mean for every exam was a 33/40 by the way, and I scored around that mean for both exams despite going through all the practice exams. The quizzes and exams were all open notes though, so that might help a little. There is a possible curve that only helps for your lab grade and 1 point of SONA extra credit.

By far the more difficult half of the class is the lab portion. The TAs are pretty hit or miss; I personally found my TA quite helpful. They do grade very harshly on the assignments that count, so you not only need to follow instructions to a tee but also ask ask ASK your TA about anything you're confused on for clarification. When in doubt, it's better to write more, even if redundant, than to leave something out. If you think you covered everything, you probably didn't. So make sure you participate in the labs and put your best foot forward on all assignments. The difficult part about lab is that you are pit against your classmates on a lab curve where the mean score is usually a low 80% (B-) and your score is relative to the mean based on standard deviations. If you don't know what this means, the short version is that grading for lab SUCKS unless you score at the top of your lab above everyone else.

A brief breakdown of my grades for the lab portion:
High 70s on the Method Editing (15% of the lab grade) and Project Proposal (10% of the lab grade)
Presumably full points/near full points for Participation (there's a lot that goes into participation despite it counting only 15% of the lab grade)
90% on the Final Project Proposal (40% of your lab grade - please try to finish this a few days AHEAD of time and not last minute so you can proofread the next few days, trust me on this)
83% on the Discussion Short Answers (20% of your lab grade - this is the final assignment for the class and although I got 83%, the mean for my lab was a 50% so obviously I scored very high in comparison lol)

All in all, because this class ultimately aggregates everything to letter grades, I got a B+ in lecture and a B in lab. I'm just glad to have passed this class. It was definitely stressful at times (especially towards the last few weeks with group presentations and the final project) but it's possible to do okay in it. It's definitely not a GPA booster by any means though. I will say this; while you do need the Workbook for lab (costs about $9 on RedShelf) you don't really need the Morling textbook. I downloaded it and NEVER USED IT and did fine. Everything on the quizzes/exams is covered in lecture anyways so just take good notes every week.

Oh my god y’all this professor is crazy! We just took a midterm (WHICH WAS NO WAY NEAR THE PRACTICE EXAMS) and her answer choices were cut off. She doesn’t want to compensate us for her fault! Average on the midterm was a C and people are shocked right now. She’s rude, disrespectful, and doesn’t care about her students.

this is the WORST class I have ever taken in my life. Firstenberg is an engaging and clear professor; however, there are several reasons as to why generations of psych100b students claim this is the hardest and most unnecessarily stressful class.
1.) every testing strategy you can imagine having taken at UCLA is incorporated: midterms, project proposals, a first submission, a second submission, group projects, weekly quizzes, AND a final
2.) The class grade is almost entirely dependent on the subjectivity of the TA and their grading
3.) The random group you are assigned to will almost definitely determine how well you do in the class
4.) The discussion is almost like a totally different class-- it incorporates nothing from the lecture and TA's are not versed in anything from lecture (have specifically answered questions with the WRONG answer in discussion multiple times). There is little overlap in the content, if at all.
5.) this may not be the experience of all TA's but mine kept me in the lab for the full 2 hours even when the class only lasted an hour
6.) most of the grade is based on midterm and final, even though the most time is spent in discussion and essays work from there-- the grading is disproportionate in this manner
7.) the sequence of class work makes no sense:
a. we needed to make a poster presentation (summary) of our results BEFORE the paper is actually even written
b. the design proposal had to be submitted for discussion before the content was even covered in lecture (these points were not allowed to be made up or refuted at all)