So far, in my limited experience of one year and one quarter as a transfer here at UCLA, this has been hands—down my favorite class I’ve taken. Not only is the subject matter incredibly interesting to me, Professor Rissman also makes his lectures very engaging and somewhat funny. At least for the summer, all of his lectures were pre-recorded, and the only attendance that was required was the discussion attendance. Class materials for the class were fairly priced. He used an online rental service for the textbook, which included the required extra practice ZAPS modules, all for around $75. However, while the book is helpful, it’s not necessarily needed, so you can completely get around this cost by not buying the book and finishing all of the ZAPS modules within the free trial. The grade was broken down into three big ticket items (Two tests and an essay) and a few more smaller items that weren’t worth as much (ZAPS modules, quizzes, and discussion attendance). You can also get up to 2% extra credit by doing 4 sona studies. The tests were very fair imo and were similar in structure to the questions that he asked in his quizzes. The quizzes are open-note, but the tests are not and are done through the respondus browser. Overall, while this class is quite a bit more work than some other psychology classes, it was well-worth it, and I would highly recommend taking 120a with Rissman.

good professor but hard class you have to study a lot and work really hard

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AWESOME CLASS!!!

Professor Rissman is such a sweet, down to earth guy. He tries to clarify confusing concepts to the best of his ability, and the examples he showed in class were interesting and applicable to everyday things that we experience. The textbook was not necessarily important, but it did supplement the lecture material and gave more helpful examples. The content of the class itself was captivating and fun, but a lot of the material was a repeat of what I had learned in other psych classes (this may be a pro or a con, depending on what type of student you are). The exams were very, very fair and not too difficult. There were clicker quizzes, but again, as long as you reviewed the material the night before, they were also very doable. I totally recommend taking this class with Rissman!

Let's get this out of the way: It's not difficult to get an A in this class. The median grade was probably between an A- and an A. There's nothing really special from the book and it's not necessary. The quizzes also get easier over time (the hard ones you can drop) and you can get +2% extra credit from doing 4 studies. If you do those at the beginning of the quarter, study enough to understand the material before quizzes , then you'll probably get an A. It also helps to do the modules at the beginning of the quarter (don't have to pay for it or worry when it's due) and ask your TA questions about the essay (not too difficult but the rubric is kinda confusing. I lost 1.5 points on it because I didn't discuss controversies enough of the paper).
This class is kinda fun. The professor is dorky and funny. But I left the class not really feeling any different. I know it's supposed to be an intro to other topics, but in the end it felt like I just took the class to satisfy a psych req. Overall not bad though

TAKE THIS CLASS. he is he best who teaches it. You don't want to miss out . TRUST

Breakdown of your grade:
Midterm Exam 30%
Final Exam 35%
Term Paper 15%
Clicker Quizzes 10% (you could drop the lowest 2 quizzes)
Clicker Participation 5%
Section Attendance 5%
Plus two extra credit percentage points
My final grade: A

This was my first time taking a column A class, and given the little "science" background I had, I was scared of how challenging the class was going to be. Nonetheless, I can honestly say Dr. Rissman has been one of the best instructor I've had during my academic tenure. The concepts were, at times, hard to grasp but the way Dr Rissman dictated the class was really effective. I like how interactive the class was with the clickers and how funny the demos were for certain topics! It definitely kept me wanting to know more. I only wished we had more time to go more into detail with certain topics because I felt sometimes we were going to fast. Though, having the class in video podcast was also helpful because I could also go back to the lecture and check if I forgot to annotate any major example or concept. Overall, a really good class. Just make sure you balance out the difficulty of all your classes because if paired with other hard classes it can get a unnecessarily stressful.

I LOVE this professor!
I was dreading taking any "science-y" psych classes, but Jesse made it so fun and understanding. He uses movie clips and demos to explain concepts and his lectures and fun and engaging so you learn the material really well and are able to recall a lot of the information on the test. The clicker quizzes help, too, and are easy to boost up your grade.

He is also a FAIR professor which i loved about him. If too many people missed a question, he threw it out or gave everybody credit for it. The articles for the paper were interesting.

Overall, AWESOME class and an AMAZING professor, and this is coming from somebody who has very very little science-based knowledge and who was dreading this class and i got an A. I, too, wish he taught 120B...

Professor Rissman is a great lecturer. He explains the concepts clearly most of the time. There were concepts that he got confused explaining, but I give him credit for correcting himself instead of letting it go.

He is nice, funny, and gives enough examples to make the concepts clear. However, do not get confused b/w his personality and how easy the class is going to be. Some students tend to think that if the professor is nice, test are going to be easy, and this is not the case . The subjects for the class, although interesting, are hard to understand, so you really need to put some effort to get an A

I would definitely recommend him. I learned a lot even when I was not interested in the class at all. For those of us who are Psych major there is not way to avoid science classes, so I am glad I took this class with him. I wish I had him for Psych 120B