I think this class is okay - probably more on the good side. Professor Rissman seemed like he did care a lot about the students in his class since he reweighted the final and midterm exams to help us out. He also made the decision to extend the deadline for the term paper, which was great. He was also incredibly validating about the election results and checked in with all of the students.

However, I felt like sometimes he didn't offer the most simple explanations of certain concepts during the first half of the quarter. I felt like he overexplained certain concepts in the first half of the quarter to the point where it got a little bit convoluted for my understanding, which is not really his fault because he seems so passionate about the material. I just wished he cut down on some of the lecture material by explaining it in a more summarized way. I think he got better at explaining the concepts in the second half of the course- I thought the class got a bit easier after the midterm.

The exams were kind of tough I'll have to admit! His exams had a lot of questions where you were asked to choose one out of four answers, with some of the answer choices being "both A&C" (for example). I thought those were pretty confusing but I think if you study and are good at MC questions, you'll be fine! The study sessions, lecture videos, and practice exams he uploaded were good study materials. The textbook honestly wasn't really needed and kind of a waste of my money, but if you don't feel confident you'll succeed without it, skimming the textbook would probably helpful since a lot of the lecture content is based off the textbook.

I would highly recommend going to section. My TA was Ashley C., and I thought she honestly explained the material very well and was super straightforward about how certain things worked. I feel like if you paid attention to lecture and went to section, you'd do pretty well in the class.

The quizzes were pretty easy, but some of the answers were hard to look up using the lecture materials. They're worth 10% of your grade, unlimited timing, and he drops your lowest score - I wouldn't be too worried about them.

The term paper is pretty low stress - it's about 1400 words and he gives you plenty of time to prepare it. As long as you follow the rubric he gives out and read the articles you have to base your essay off of, it should be pretty easy points. I would make sure to emphasize the weaknesses of the article and what the researchers in the article could add to their studies to make it better (if this is applicable to your research paper of choice). The weaknesses of the articles are the most important part of the grading.

Overall, I really enjoyed the class and the concepts in it. As someone who's more into social psych, I thought cog psych was interesting overall! I never realized that a lot of the illusion memes I saw online in middle school would end up being discussed in a cognitive psychology class lol.

Would definitely recommend this class for Column A requirements, but if you're not too great with multiple choice exams, I would consider taking this class with another professor.

I'm not sure if it was just that I found the content boring or if it was the exams but I struggled in this class. The lectures were engaging but he spent a lot of time on pointless examples of concepts. I was also surprised about the difficulty of the exams. I have done really well in other psych classes (100B and 115 I finished with high A+) so I think my study methods just didn't work for the exam style. Most questions were trick questions or "pick the most right" questions. They also had options like "A and B," "All of the Above," and "None of the Above." I studied by retaking notes on all lectures, making Quizlets, testing myself with the study guide/practice exam, and making mind maps. A lot of people did very well so maybe if I had read the textbook I would have done better? Nevertheless, I still ended with a good grade because he had a lot of homework/quizzes to buffer the grade. Whenever I spoke to him after class he was pretty frantic and distracted. I'd also heard him chatty with other students and could be rather condescending or dismissive. Not my cup of tea but I know many enjoyed him. He is pretty funny and endearing in lectures but not so much in private.

I honestly really enjoyed this class. I definitely feel like I took a lot away from this class. I absolutely loved the ZAPS modules, those were beyond helpful. They were very easy but allowed for a more in depth explanation of certain topics in a fun and interactive way. I definitely would keep these modules for future courses! Lectures were very interactive and interesting, though sometimes a bit long. While I understand this was a summer class and a lot of material was being pushed into a short amount of time, not allowing a short break in the middle was a bit much. Even if we can go back and watch the recording later of what may have been missed, it would still be nice to have a break implemented into the lecture, even just a few minutes would be helpful. The quizzes were very helpful in reviewing the material from the previous week, especially to see where you need to study more for the exams. I feel that there should be a practice exam or more practice in general with question types that are on the exams. I think the midterm has some poor wording making it more difficult to select a correct answer. Despite studying for days and feeling very prepared, I still did poorly on the midterm and that very heavily weighed on my feelings for how I would finish the course.

He truly cares for his students and that's all you can really ask for from a teacher. I took him during the summer session and the class was really fast paced, but manageable. The average grade for the midterm was pretty low, so he gave extra credit and changed the grading scale, so that the exam you score better on would count for more of your final grade.

this class really isn't as bad as some have made it out to be. some lectures are more engaging than others, and the professor did rush too much at times though. it was clear that he wanted everyone to succeed, and he was kind enough to give everyone extra points to move people's exam grades up, as well as change some grading weights (like final vs midterm) to further benefit people's grades. i recommend reading/at least skimming the textbook btw, it was actually really helpful for this class i feel like the prof used a lot of info from it.

i would 100% recommend taking this class with this professor!!

Honestly, I think there could definitely be worse professors to take this with. That being said, it was not great. The issue with Professor Rissman is he goes super fast, he has like 90 slides per lecture so near the end he stops making complete sense because he's going so fast and gets stressed. He's quirky and funny, but definitely passive-aggressive. I would say, all in all, he's a fair professor. As the quarter went on, he definitely got better at lecturing and became more charismatic. There's no homework besides weekly ZAPS and quizzes (open notes). I will say, his tests are super hard but they are multiple-choice. It's just an incredibly tough test if you don't have test-taking skills. It could definitely be worse, but it's honestly not that great.

I appreciated the way in which the asynchronous lectures were presented. You can watch your lectures whenever you want and go at your own pace.

The professor used Respondus for our midterm exam, which added unnecessary stress. But he listened to our concerns and did not use Respondus for the final exam.

The discussion sections were super helpful. My TA did a really good job at making the information more clear and easier to understand.

This class can be difficult but just try your best to keep up with the lectures so that you don't feel so far behind before the exams. I recommend this class more than the other classes in Column A (for Psych Majors).

Okay so I just want to leave this review to show that sometimes a class that everyone loves can be worse for some people than a class that everyone hates. My example would be this class and 100B. I loved 100B and got an A- in it. I hated this class and got C's on the exams, which isn't like me at all. Professor Rissman is a phenomenal professor, but I found the exams to be unfair and too challenging. I would even go over problems I got wrong on the exam with my T.A. and at one point the T.A. didn't even know why I got it wrong. In my opinion, the exams were extremely difficult. I guess with all that being said, the class was super easy for some people, so I think it really just depends on how your mind works. I guess mine didn't work with this class because I went into it expecting to do well and that's not at all what happened for me.

I do not recommend anyone else for 120A besides Jesse. He truly cares for his students and made a lot of accommodations for us amidst the pandemic. His exams are tricky, you need to study, exams are closed notes/book so you can't rely on your notes. I got a C on the midterm from not studying and a B+ on the final with minimal studying; LOTS of people got As and even 100% on the exams, again, if you study enough, the tests will be a breeze. There's lot's of assignments and quizzes where you can earn points to redeem yourself if you don't perform well on the tests. He also offers extra credit through SONA. I was able to still get an A in the course despite not performing too well on the exams. Take him!!!

This is the second time that I have had professor Rissman for a class.

Even during a challenging time, Jesse does his best to teach a class to 400+ students. Lectures are always engaging and he provides fun examples for you to follow even in his asynchronous lectures. The only thing I didn’t like about prerecorded lecture was the fact that some of them overtime.

Tests are fair but can be tricky if you didn’t study. If you really want an A then I suggest you read the book as a few questions from the book tend to pop up.

There are weekly quizzes and discussion is mandatory. If Dylan is teaching then I suggest taking it with him!

There’s also a paper that I found to be fairly straightforward as long as you follow the rubric.

Overall great class! Would take him again.