take this class over summer!!! i took it with frederick/malamuth (malamuth was never there, it was actually taught by dave) and it was amazing!! instead of being a huge lecture, it was a 19-person seminar that relied heavily on participation, but the material is really interesting so that shouldn't be a deterrent. there was no midterm or final, instead your grade is based on participation, daily reading quizzes (with extra credit questions), two short papers, and a couple of group projects. such a great class, highly recommend it!

disclaimer: this is an evolutionary psychology class. Don't come with any other expectations.

I really came into this class expecting it to be sciency, yet conceptual..without an evolutionary foundation. Yet, the author of the book we had to read for class and the professor herself are strong advocates of evolution. Therefore, everything we learned in class REVOLVED around evolution, literally.

Her test questions were kinda tricky, however she does curve the tests and the class. I read the book, reviewed her slides, took notes during lecture, and got an A- in the class. It wasn't so bad.

This is her last year though.

Reading all of these reviews, I'm a bit confused as to how everyone thought this class was so difficult. I wound up with an A+. I found that her tests were fantastically all-encompassing. They covered almost everything covered by lecture or book. That may sound evil, but at least it ensures that there won't be too much focus on any one thing- so if you didn't study it, it's ok. In general, I thought the lectures were as interesting as possible considering the sheer volume of material and how little time there is to actually cover anything. She has a ton of supplemental videos and activities and things to keep it fun. Malamuth herself is so sweet and genuinely wants you to understand. Judging by my experience and the comments of others, if you're good at tests, this class should be fairly easy for you. The reading isn't too cumbersome and there is help always available. However, if you're the type that doesn't perform well on tests, or the type who thinks they can never go to lecture and never read and still do well, then maybe find a different class.

Professor Malamuth is such a sincerely sweet person. The wording on her tests and quizzes, however, are anything but sweet. I went to lecture every time, was very engaged in the material, read the textbook, and still found some questions very tricky. Don't let her sweetness fool you! She wants you to be as much of a psych genius as she is. If you have a chance, take Psych 10 with Malamuth because you will find yourself talking about psych with your friends, analyzing why you do things, and wanting to take more psych classes. This is the one "not an easy A" class that is definitely worth taking.

i would NOT recommend this class. it is not an easy A. so i went to every single lecture, i outlined the chapters, i went to review sessions. i averaged a B on the midterm 40% and a B+ on the quizzes 20% and ended up with a C+ in class. the whole class is based on the midterm, quizzes, and test. people warned me about this class, but i looked on bruinwalk and thought i could do okie in this class. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!

a sample question...
1. what is the answer?
a) always true
b) sometimes true
c) never true
d) a & b are true
e) all the above are true

not an easy A like i thought it would be, but not a bad class. i pulled a B+ and rarely went to class or stayed the whole time because the notes were posted online. i probably should have stayed though because she does a pretty good job explaining the concepts. there's a good deal of reading and the tests are pretty hard. i learned about a lot of cool stuff though, so i recommend this class and you can easily get an A if you put in the effort.

While Malamuth's lectures were interesting and engaging, and while she is a sweet and funny woman, I would not recommend her. Here's why:

Her tests and quizzes were EXTREMELY confusing and inconsistent. The first quiz was mostly lecture, the second was mostly textbook, the third had a bit of both, etc. The midterm was 80% lecture with several extremely confusing questions from the text; also, the study guide was USELESS for preparing. The final was the opposite: 80% textbook questions, lots of obscure ones, and the study guide was actually a little bit helpful, but there were hardly any questions from lecture. What she emphasized and what she tested on were far from the same thing. It made an interesting class into a difficult and frustrating one.

Also, there was a ton of reading for the class, so if you don't like classes where you need to read (and you REALLY need to read for this one) I suggest finding a different one.

Prof. Malamuth is an awesome person. Caring, genuine, helpful.

But this class is based on a curve so most people will end up in the C range (as I did).
The reading is a bit heavy (around 50pgs/week). The textbook is farily simple to read but LONG.
Her quizzes & tests are confusing so watch out. Memorize everything and be sure to go to lecture.

I can't say it's an easy A. I mean, it IS a curved class.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND:
Okay here is the run down. If you are good at SAT style tests, blunt memorization without a deep concern about how the topic apples to your life, then this is the professor for you! Don't get me wrong though, if you really ARE good at the dry kind of studying Malamuth is your professor (and I know UCLA is filled with the 1400+ SAT kids).

However, know that there is NO discussion section, it is just a huge seminar room with 300 other kids waiting to get out of her 2 hour long lecture (instead of a discussion, we had a 2 hour long lecture).

There is NO chance to really express your thoughts unless you can somehow get to her office hours or if you raise your hand in the middle of class and have a discussion while everyone else has been sitting down for 2 hours.

She is not a passionate lecturer, in my opinion. I felt she just droned on and on about a topic and did not spend much time in the exciting aspects of psychology. In fact, we spent a good 5+ lectures on BIOLOGY! Like how nerve cells fire and areas of the brain (I will forget all of that after my final. This is stuff for BIO majors!!)

I'm not sure if this was Malamuth or if it was the department who forced Malamuth to teach this, but we honestly went through 10 DIFFERENT psychology topics and like 1000 pages worth of text to read. Oh and the textbook was SO redundant, long, and fluffly. Honestly, those 100 page chapters could have been condenced into 20 pages. (I am an engineering student, so I like information to be efficent) The book was almost like the transcript of Gray's 3 hour long ramblings.

That is A LOT to read, and A LOT to go over. Our (horrible) TA which we only saw during a review session liked to stress us out by saying "You need to know EVERYTHING" blah blah.

I did not like this class at all but I feel this is because I like to discuss, express myself, and focus on more deeply, rather than superficially on these topics. The tests were all multiple choice and there were no essays. (I know some of you hate essays, but I like them as they allow me to express myself and not just reduce answers and plug-n-chug)

Example question: What is the second stage of XYZ development if the child has XYZ illness?
A) B) C) D) E)?

--I mean what kind of random bull is that?? Who CARES???? Psychology is about figuring out about yourself, yet we focused 90% of the quarter on the most mundane topics, random, and biological topics.

HIGHLY DO NOT RECOMENED THIS TEACHER.

She was amazing. She makes the class very straight forward and if you just go to class you'll do well on the quizzes. Her graded material isnt deceptive and she doesnt try to trick you. As long as you don't slack off having her for psych 10 is a pretty easy A.