PSYC 2200

Good professor. This is a purely memorization based class. The only grades were tests. Your grade is the average of your top 4 test scores, including the final, so you might not have to take the final. Some questions are poorly written, but he always corrected the answer key accordingly which is admirable.

David Hill is a great professor. I had heard a lot of bad things about this class, but he explains things so clearly that it makes it easy to understand! The tests are all 40 multiple choice, so every point you get wrong can be worth a lot. There aren't trick questions, but each section covers a lot of material, so its hard to study it all. Overall, I would recommend taking this class with David Hill, because he's a great professor!

This class is actually not that bad IF you take it as a premed during your last years at UVA in conjunction with anatomy or having already taken anatomy (sometimes I saw the same questions appear on both Hill's exams and Kopeny's exams). I had already learned about 75% of the material in this class due to having already taken intro bio, biochem, and anatomy so if you are a pre med psych major or thinking of being one, save this class until the END of your UVA career. Even if you arent premed, this material isnt that difficult to learn and Hill goes INCREDIBLY slowly, like he spends an entire month teaching action potentials (which I didn't bother going to class for and still did well on the exam). The class is doable, you only need the textbook to look up vocab terms, and one exam can get dropped which is nice. He did curve a bit this year making an 88 an A-.

I actually really enjoyed this class with Prof Hill! It's pretty much a biology class and the topics were pretty engaging. There are 4 exams and the final which you can drop at the end of the semester (so nice!!!!). Overall, I would say that the exams are pretty average. Some of the questions are definitely there to trip you up (especially since a lot of them have the None of the Above Choice which is sometimes right). However, Hill is understanding at the review sessions and will give back points to questions where more than one answer might seem correct. Hill has a dry sense of humor, but keeps the class pretty engaged. Make sure you print of the PowerPoint slides before coming to class because most of the information for the exams come straight from lecture. I'm going to end up with an A in the class, so it's definitely doable to do well in this class. You WILL get through this class. Good Luck!!!

I came into this class having heard only bad things and expecting to fail, but I actually did much better than I expected and really enjoyed the class! He does say at the beginning of the semester that he refers to the course as Psychobiology because it really isn't focused on psychology at all. However, if you are interested in neuroscience and biology, and how they relate to psychology, then the material is very interesting, though it can be a bit difficult or confusing. There are 4 exams and a final, all 40 multiple choice, with the lowest grade being dropped (including the final). The exams can be tricky for sure, and it does seem some of the questions are designed to trip you up, but I think some of the students exaggerate this at least a little bit. I never got above an 85 on an exam, but he posts the grades and answers a couple hours after each one and when I reviewed my exams I was immediately able to figure out why I had gotten it wrong or why it made more sense, even thought I didn't fully understand while taking the exam. Aside from the class being a little difficult and hard to study for with the amount of material you have to know, my only other concern is with the way the professor interacts with the students. He definitely has a sense of humor and I enjoyed all of the lectures and was entertained during them, but he often comes across as condescending when students ask questions, which can make you feel hesitant to ask for help. Overall, I would recommend this class if the material sounds interesting to you, though I wouldn't take it expecting an easy A.

I actually really liked this class! Fair warning, it isn't as much of a PYSCH class as it is a biology and anatomy course. I found the material very interesting, especially if your interested in the medical field later on. Professor Hill can have a monotone voice, but if you power through, he actually can have a very dry sense of humor. I would recommend this class- the material is super interesting, but fair warning there is a lot of it.

Hill is the worst professor I've had. The course is so interesting, yet he makes the material dull and unlearnable.

This course is not curved, and have a pretty low test average (mid 70s usually)
Tests are unnecessarily difficult and even though I study and feel confident both before and after the exam, I've never scored above an 85 on a test. I seriously believe he writes them with the intention of you getting them wrong; I have no other explanation. There is no need to confuse students as much as Hill does in order to test their knowledge on a topic. It's killing my GPA this semester, despite the fact that I enrolled in it hoping for a relatively easy interesting psych class AND i actually do understand the material very well. Hill said there would be no material covered on the final exam that wasn't covered on our other four exams which is straight up lie. Final was even harder than the other exams. I cannot express how taxing this class was - I wouldn't take this class if my life depended on it. you will destroy your GPA and your mental health. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS YOU WILL REGRET IT

This class was deceptively hard for me. Prof. Hill's passion for the topic is infectious, and it makes his lectures seem a little more informal at times. However, do not allow his passion to underestimate his tests!! They are exactly like other tests in the intro psych courses -- detail oriented and designed to confuse people who don't know the information inside and out.

The readings are important, but pay more attention and take detailed notes in his lectures because most of the test material comes from the lectures. Also, pay attention to the details in lectures! Take notes on the diagrams he spends time on and on the videos he shows, because those are also used in tests.

For sure interesting material, and Hill does a great job explaining it... but the tests are another story. None of the questions are straight forward and most seem to be very unfair trick questions (I still have not figured out why a professor would manipulate their exams in this way, tricking students into getting the wrong answers on material that was studied in depth). Anyways, it is a very fast paced class, but pretty manageable if you do some of the readings and attend lecture. Still, I would not recommend this class to anyone who anticipates that their grades reflect their efforts in a class, unless it is required (if that is the case, good luck).

update: just took the final and 19/40 questions had the correct answer of "none of the above" or "more than one of the above." this class is 10/10 a scam.

I personally liked this class a lot! David Hill is an interesting guy and the material learned in this class is quite fascinating. This class is essentially the biology behind psychology, which is why many psychology majors dislike the class and don't do as well as they want (because it's more biology than psychology). It's definitely not an easy A but if you do the reading and study a good amount you should be able to end the class with at least a B.

I came into this course expecting a low grade based on all the rumors/reviews that I had received. I'm actually pulling through with a slightly higher grade than what I was expecting and though it's not an A or A-, I am pretty satisfied with it. Hill isn't too bad of a professor. The material is hard in itself and the tests aren't as bad as everyone makes them seem. I didn't ever get above an A- on one of the test, but I understand it wasn't really impossible. The book is pretty interesting to read and I felt like it definitely helped on the exams. The lectures aren't too bad (admittedly easy to fall asleep in some), but you really have to pay attention to the opening questions in each lecture. From what I've heard, it's also better to take this class in the fall than in the spring. I'd say, go for it and take it. Most of the people that take this need it for their major anyway (like me). The 4/5 tests thing is cool and if you're satisfied, you don't have to take the final. My suggestion is to do kick-a** on the first 4 tests and not screw yourself over on the final.

This class is fantastic. It is my favorite class that I have taken this semester.

If you are interested in Neuroscience, I highly recommend this class. It is broad overview of various topics in neuroscience from a biology focused perspective. There are no homework assignments or psych studies, and your entire grade is based upon 5 large exams that are all equally weighted 40 multiple choice question exams. The lowest exam grade is dropped, which is nice, but the class is still fairly difficult. You will need to do the readings and pay attention in class. The average grade on the exams is about a C+, and they are not curved at all. However, it is not impossible to get an A if you study adequately beforehand and memorize the few important sections that each exam covers.

Professor Hill can be a little bit dry at times, however he teaches well. He knows what he is talking about, especially concerning taste. In fact, some of the material in the textbook concerning taste comes from his own research. He makes the material very easy to understand, and makes it very clear what material will be on the exam and what will not be. Although he claims that his lectures are more important than the textbook when it comes to exam material, you should still read the textbook. His powerpoints are very useful and posted on Collab a few days before class, so you can print them out or use your computer to take notes on the actual slides. That said, you need to attend class, since the slides by themselves are not enough to study for exams. Also, the tangents that he makes in lectures are pure gold, so you definitely don't want to miss those. There are few professors who can give you real talk about sex and drugs from a neuroscience perspective and make it interesting.

Finally, Rolf as a TA is fantastic. He is very passionate about the material, and his Monday night QA sessions and office hours are very very useful when you get a bit confused about what's going on.

I wouldn't take this course unless you have to for the psych major. While the material is interesting Hill is a fairly boring lecturer, and as the other reviews mention, the tests are confusingly worded to the point where you're tricked into getting the wrong answer most of the time. On top of this he tells you some BS at the beginning of the semester that he'll curve the test grades if the grades are low enough, which never happened even though one of the average test grades was a 72. Though with that being said, its not impossible to get an A in the class. Know the lecture material and the PPT's he posts and the lecture material by heart - this is where he get a majority of his exam material. If I were to take the course over again, I would definitely have recorded his lectures since some of the test questions are based off of little details that he goes over for about thirty seconds in class. There's a ton of extraneous information in the book that Hill won't cover on the test so study only the material in the book that relates to the terms and processes he goes over in class. Last but not least, read the exam questions VERY CAREFULLY. There's really no guarantee you're going to get an A in the class, but these steps will put you in the best position to do so. Good luck... you're going to need it.

This class is extremely taxing. The Professor designs the test to trip you up. You may know the material but his wording will make you second guess yourself. I would not recommend this class to anyone who doesn't want to be a neural scientist. This is not a Psyc course more of a biology course.

Terrible professor. Laughed at me when I wanted to ask him a question. One of the first classes I took after transferring. His discussion on performing experiments was horrific. I would not recommend this class to anyone not 100% interested in neuroscience. Class almost completely focuses on the biology of the brain.

Professor Hill is a very straight forward professor. Your grade in the class comes from your highest grades on 4 out of 5 tests, including the final exam (which is cumulative). He even goes on to say that every test is comprised of 40 multiple choice questions that are intentionally tricky and require additional thought than just straight forward definitions or basic knowledge. Even with all of his warnings, I found the course to be extremely difficult. My performance on the first two tests were very poor, but Professor Hill was open about holding office hours and Monday review sessions to help his struggling students (most of the class). Over time, after focusing more on the lecture material and less on the meticulous details of the book, I found myself in a much better position. This is not an easy psych class nor is it a viable option if just seeking to meet a science requirement. Unless you have an extensive background in biology, you will have to work hard for a decent grade. That being said, it is possible and you will learn a lot from Professor Hill.

The tests are difficult to the point where it does not matter if you know the material. You will get tricked into getting the question wrong and that is the only way he will test your knowledge.

The material was really interesting and I like the book he uses, however, I don't think he does a great job teaching it. The review sessions are helpful and is how I understood most of the material. He puts a lot of trick questions on the exams that are phrased in odd ways and make it hard to answer them correctly. I'd only recommend taking it if you're interested in the material enough to compensate for not so great lectures.

This class used to be relatively easy or if anything, a fair class. . But this year Hill decided to make it harder. He even said after our first exam when our average was 60% he was trying to make this semester more difficult since he didn't like his 85% average. That said, the material is great! I learned so much from Hill and the book. However I would not recommend this class because I felt as if I could not display my knowledge on his exams because of either tricky wording, or random trivia questions and what I mean as random trivia questions I mean questions that came from from ONE sentence he mentioned during class and then told the class we did not need to know that it was just a fun fact. There is nothing more frustrating that studying very hard and knowing the information yet not do well on the exam. I suggest taking it with Brunjes. He taught our class twice when Hill was out of town and I found him a better lecturer and livelier!

Worst class. Only take if you have to for the psych major.

Professor Hill seems like a sweet old man, but he is very boring. If you've taken bio (like I did), the class should be a breeze. It's essentially a less in depth review of intro bio. You get to drop your lowest grade, as is standard with most psyc classes, and there is a cumulative final. This year he had mypsychlab extra credit which can really boost your grade, so I would recommend doing all of the quizzes if he does that again. If you aren't a sciencey person or aren't required to take the class, don't--there are much better psyc classes out there.

Many take this class because they consider it a joke class, but don't be fooled. You have to put some amount of work in to get an A. Getting a B is no problem and quite easy. He gave us extra credit but does not warn you when they are on his website. If you take this class, definitely take the extra credit.

The lectures for this class are interesting and simple, and Hill makes the material seem easy. However, the tests do not reflect the lectures OR the textbook, as the questions are worded strangely and are difficult to understand. Missing just a few can destroy your grade, and even if you have the lectures basically memorized, there will inevitably be a couple questions that seem to come out of nowhere.

Tests were often tricky, but he goes over everything during the lectures. Subject matter was broad and told in passing. Overall, I liked the class and Hill

I would not recommend this class unless it's absolutely necessary for your major. The concepts are interesting and I feel that I've gained a lot of knowledge about the sensory systems, and how biology and psychology are connected, but my grade in the class does not reflect that. Hill oversimplifies the concepts in lecture, but on the tests he asks for small details, and the questions seem like they're designed to trick you, even if he says otherwise. At the beginning of the class he said that there would likely be a curve, and that there was an opportunity to gain 5 extra credit points total to your grade, but there was no curve, and the five extra points wound up going to one test, so it didn't make as much of a difference. Class average was about a C, I believe, different than reviews from other years.

Hill is a funny guy, with his dry sense of humor and sometimes painful jokes, and I enjoyed going to lecture at times, especially because he would often let class out a good 10 minutes early on average. However, as a student who attended every lecture, most optional discussions, and read the book (as well as the materials on mypsychlab and practice tests), I still struggled in this class. It brought down my GPA significantly, and though I did learn the basics, I'm sure if I had the choice, I would not take this class again.

I really wanted to love this class, I really did. I'm more than interested in neural psych, but this class was more of a basic brain anatomy and function course than anything else. The material was deceptively easy--in class, he did not go very in-depth, but the book went far more in-depth and it got confusing as to how well we needed to know the material (and it would change from test to test).

Hill isn't a horrible lecturer, he isn't a great lecturer; his slides won't help without the lecture though so try to be there, since there's enough he only goes over in-class. Most of the time he didn't use up the full 50 minutes, sometimes letting us out after only 30 or so.

The tests are too tricky; maybe 75-80% of the questions are relatively straightforward, but the other 10 or so are worded oddly and quite difficult (even though the material isn't!)

Out of class work isn't too bad, although the extra credit doesn't help for the tests (it's supposed to be a 'practice' test from the book chapters, but rarely do the practice and actual tests cover the same material) and occurs at a random schedule, so it is VERY easy to miss an extra credit... or two... or five.

Long story short--if you are really interested in the class, and put the work in, it's possible to get an A, but an A- seems more likely--there's just that many stupidly worded questions that can throw your grade (ex: getting 4 questions wrong on every test will give you an A-). If you can, don't take the final--it's MUCH more difficult than the other tests, even if he says it's on the same material (it isn't, really), and the questions are worded horribly, much more so than usual.

Not a horrible course, interesting enough material, but not the easy A it may seem on the surface.

(for reference, I took all 4 tests and the final, did like 75% of the extra credit, and ended up with an A-)

This class was fun. I enjoyed the material but the exams were definitely not easy. I went to every single class, review session and studied days in advance and I didn't do that well. I feel like he wants us to do well but he also wants to trick us. There were way too many 'none of the above' answer choices on the exams and they just confused the heck out of almost everyone. He said there would be no curve because our average is around a C and he's content with that. I thought this class would be fine as long as I put in the effort. I put in the effort and didn't do well.....would not recommend you take this course unless you have to. Definitely a time sucker. I also had this course and a different course on the same day and the exams were back to back every single time. I thought I would be bale to do it but I couldn't, so definitely don't sign up for this class if you have exams on the same day. Only take this class if you HAVE to. I can't stress that enough.

Its gotten to the point where it seems he wants to trick us and for us not to do well in his class. With at least 10 hours of studying for each test, better be satisfied with a B- or a C. The material has potential to be interesting but lectures are confusing. Even if you teach yourself all of the material and truly understand it, his trick questions on short, very few points tests destroy your grade. He puts questions such as "all or none of the above" or "one true, two false." This class destroyed my GPA, I would not recommend it.

Professor Hill honestly wants people to do well in his class. This semester he offered 5.5 points of extra credit to add to one test grade out of 100. He also rounds up .5 so if you have an 89.5 it will round up to a 90 giving you an A-. He also offers the option that if you do well on the first 4 tests, you do not have to take the final, which is nice if you have a super crammed finals schedule. He also adjusts the A distribution so that a 92 and above is considered an A. Make sure to take good notes, and go to test reviews the week of the exam- he tends to explain concepts a lot better then during class. Make sure to understand any processes that he goes over a lot in class. If you put in the effort, you can definitely get an A, but his test averages were pretty low (around a C/low B) so make sure you put in the time to study.

I really liked his lectures. Just need to attend the lectures and take good notes for the exams.

Hill is a great lecturer. His humor is a little dry, but I found it entertaining. He places a lot of emphasis on what will be on the test by being repetitive. This class depends on a series of 4-5 tests. None are cumulative. There's a lot of pressure to do well, especially on the first one. If you do, then you're solid. Tests are multiple choice.

I thought the material was interesting, but I'm probably in the minority. Professor Hill is entertaining in a dry, sarcastic way. He tells you straight up that he doesn't test on random details from the reading, which is nice, but the tests can still be confusingly worded. Watch out for matching questions and read all answers carefully. The book goes into much more detail than the class actually does, so that can be confusing at times--skim the book and don't try to memorize it all. He drops the lowest exam grade and seems to be pretty lenient about grading--he raised all our final grades by 10 points because everyone failed. Not a bad class overall.

Grade is only based on midterms and final, one midterm is dropped. Hill is not as good of a lecturer as Brunjes, but his tests are wayyyyy easier. This is not a hard class to get an A in, as evidenced by the grade distribution.

I just took this class in Fall 2012. As others have said, this class has got to have changed since the 2009 grade distribution. While Hill is a nice guy and can be personable in lecture, he writes lousy tests. The difficulty of the exams fluctuated wildly from one to the next. I got a near-perfect on the first exam only to fall to a C on the second with no change in study habits. Everyone did so badly on the final exam that he added 10 points to everyone's score. This unpredictability is scary since he takes the raw average of the highest scores on 4 of the 5 tests (4 midterms, 1 final). I thought the material was interesting and perhaps is enough to recommend the class, but get ready for a roller coaster ride on the exams.

harder than distribution shows. tests do not reflect what is learned in lecture and tests are unnecessarily hard; random facts show up on the tests. 4 midterms and a comprehensive final.

This class definitely is harder than the grade distribution shows. The concepts are not that hard but he doesn't do a great job of explaining things. Also, his tests are extremely tricky and detailed, and he will randomly pull things from the book that were never talked about in lecture.

This class is not what the grade distribution says. It is a very hard class (probably the hardest in the psych department 2000 levels), and pretty much requires the use of old tests (which he allows but does not post) to do well. The questions are often unfair or confusing, and the book goes into either too much or too little detail. Do not take this as an easy fun class

This class looks great on paper and Professor Hill will certainly make it sound easy, until the tests roll around. He preaches how you only need to know the lecture and you think, hey, this is easy. Then on the tests he throws in detailed unnecessary things that we never talked about. He cannot write tests. You will get a good survey of neuro but the class could be heavily improved.

Pretty good class, not the most exciting but not boring either. Professor Hill was very nice and enthusiastic, I would recommend taking it with him if possible.

I loved this class! Professor Hill is the best. He is such a good lecturer who really cares about his students. He answers every question and makes himself available after class. I definitely recommend this class!

This class is harder than it should be; not because the material is that hard to grasp, but because the tests are unnecessarily tricky. Many questions were worded quite stupidly, to be frank. Otherwise, I thought this class was fine. The material is interesting and in order to fully grasp it, you have to read the book and go to lecture.

This class must have changed since the earlier reviews, because it was not as easy or fun as people made it seem. I found the lectures extremely dull and slow, although I was interested in the material coming into the course. Hill just couldn't keep my attention. The information itself was cool, but the tests were tricky. Overall, I was kind of disappointed with this class. I thought it could have been a lot more enjoyable. Professor Hill is a nice guy, but I wasn't very satisfied with his class.

This was one of the worst classes I took while at UVa. Right off the bat this course was disappointing. It really should be renamed to reflect the content of the course. The professor is a horrible lecturer. He oversimplifies biological systems and processes to the point where it just seems that things magically happen, which only confuses students. Most of his lectures are comprised predominantly of pictures and graphs from the book without descriptions to accompany them. One lecture he repeatedly said we were just looking at pictures to see the different types of cells and neural connections. On the next test however, there were 5 questions requiring us to match a type of stain with the specific part of the cell it was used to see. It is not uncommon for him to ramble on about things that have nothing to do with the material and then throw a sentence or two of information at the class before rambling again. The level of the book does not match that of the lectures and when there is a discrepancy, the professor claims the book is incorrect. For students who prefer to read the book before lecture and take notes, this creates more work as he usually says the book goes into much greater detail than we are required to know. For students who read the book after lecture, it creates confusion because the lecture no longer makes sense. Almost every test had a glaring error so the professor was forced to accept all answers as correct. All of the tests also had misleading, ambiguous, or trick questions. When students tried to explain their logic for the answer they chose for such questions, the professor told them they misunderstood the question or they misunderstood the material, instead of using it as a teaching opportunity. Students respond much better to a concession followed by an explanation than being told they are stupid. Additionally, if students wanted clarification on a test question, this was usually impossible because the professor was no where to be found once the tests were passed out. The professor also mislead the entire class in preparation for the final. We were told that we would only be tested on the material from the 4 in-class exams and that the final would be the same level of difficulty as these exams. This was a flat out lie. The exam was much more difficult and there was information that had not appeared on any of the tests during the semester. Furthermore, the information he tested us on seemed irrelevant to the class, such as the scientific name for an animal a test was conducted on rather than the results of the study or the definition of the term "homeotherm." The professor also loved analogies. The relationship between digital and analog information, "all or none" events and graded events, and action potentials and EPSPs is not of great importance nor does it help students unless they already know the relationship between analog and digital information (which is not explained in class). The name of the course has such potential, however I learned absolutely nothing interesting in this course. I understand that to learn about behavior, students must have a basic understanding of the neural mechanisms that control it; however, learning about which waves are predominant during which sleep stages as well as auditory and visual pathways are not behavioral. Learning what results when the pathways are disrupted is what is actually interesting. Students have a basic grasp on almost all the material covered in this course from high school biology. This course should expand on drug addiction, sleep disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, etc as a result of issues at the neural level to more accurately reflect the name of the course as well as make it a worthwhile and interesting class.

this class was not as easy as i expected it to be. the exams frequently have information that seems random. the final is also definitely not as easy as he kept hinting toward. the easiest test was the fourth and the hardest--watch out for the sensory systems.

Do not take this class if you do not have to. The tests are ridiculous - there are always things on them that you have no idea where they came from even if you attended every lecture and read the book. For one test, some of the questions had multiple right answers, and when we showed him our answer in the book he still did not accept it. Sure, some of the questions on the tests are easy, but it is not worth it for the truly infuriating ones.

While Hill does have his moments, he is generally dull and redundant. He simplifies concepts too much and his tests are quite difficult. Avoid.

Professor Hill gives really thorough lectures, and makes difficult topics quite easy to understand. He always comes in excited to teach. The entire class grade is based on four midterms and a cumulative final, all equally weighted (he drops the lowest one).

Professor Hill is a great lecturer who is entertaining and draws laughs in every lecture. His lectures are clear and he is always willing to answer questions. 4 exams and a cumulative final. Lowest exam dropped.

I took this course in Fall 2009. There is no reason you should not get an A in this class. You don't need to read the book, and the material is remedial for anyone who took AP Bio in high school. Seriously, one of the multiple-choice options for a question on the midterm was "fat is cool." Easy A if you have a pulse and attend class.

Professor Hill was a really funny professor, and he made an already fascinating subject even more interesting! The book was kind of useless, but as long as you go to lectures you should get an A.

If you go to lecture and memorize the notes, you should do just fine in that class. A huge portion of the test is based on lecture notes.

Don't bother reading the textbook. Just go to lecture and you will do fine on the tests.

The coolest class I have ever taken at UVA. David Hill is the man. Subject material is fascinating. The class consists of 4 exams and a final (if necessary), all of which are 40 questions multiple choice. About 30-35 of the questions are from what is discussed in lecture while 5-10 ask specifics from the book. SO GO TO CLASS. Make sure you look at his "summary" pages at the end of each of his PPT's and make sure you know the charts/processes that are on the slides because he pulls a lot of questions from them.

Pretty cool class. Either you like it or you don't because since it's essentially a biology class, a lot of people find it interesting while others don't. It's a class you just have to sit through if you're a psychology major. With that being said, pay attention to him and really grasp the generalizations that he makes in class. You have to read to do well on the exams because there are some things on the exam he never covers, but still expects you to understand. I would go to his study sessions if you don't understand something. Material gets tough on the third exam, but it's manageable. Don't be afraid to ask questions. He's a really knowledgeable professor and wants you to do well.

What bothered me most about this class was the fact that it had little connection with the psychological expression of the biology/neurology we had to study. As a Psych major, this was frustrating. I felt like I was taking a biology class. Hill is a fine lecturer but often played down the complexity of what he was teaching in an almost condescending manner. But then it would actually be kind of hard?

I only did the reading right before the exams which was VERY helpful. If you read (not just skim) what he assigns and pay attention somewhat in lecture, the exams aren't so bad.

Go to lecture, take notes, study them, get an A on every test. Easy as that.

Hill represents scientific concepts in a simple way and his tests are pretty easy. If you have a good biology background, you will do well without too much effort.

In retrospect, I should've gotten an A in this class. Some questions on the midterms can make you second guess yourself, but if you've paid attention in class you should be okay. He includes some material that's only in the textbook. This being the case, I read every chapter he assigned very thoroughly. I learned quickly that this was, while often interesting, a waste of time as far as preparing for tests. It definitely helps you build an understanding but a lot of the time the book goes WAY more in depth than you need to know (Hill does a good job of letting you know to what extent you need to know). He's not an amazing lecturer but he's lively enough considering he's really more of a neuroscientist than a true lecture-hall professor. Plus his "gloomy" demeanor and anecdotes are pretty funny. Overall the class isn't as scary as I thought it would be, what with all the anatomy and terms, and it really helps you understand the brain and body functions

Very easy class, very interesting too. Prof. Hill stepped it up in the spring last semester and put some book material on the exams but I still didn't read ever and got an A. Missed being exempt from the final by 1 question, and the final was cumulative and harder than his other exams. Work hard to be exempt from it.

Ugh, this class. Very sadly, it is required for the psych major. If you don't have to take it, stay far far away. It is more of an anatomy class than anything else, and Hill does an inadequate job explaining the material. The optional review sessions were useless. Hill also made some insensitive comments at various points during the semester about happenings around UVa...while it didn't directly affect his performance as a teacher, it certainly didn't make him any more likable. He also changed his mind fairly frequently. The most notable example of this is his decision to change the final from "word for word, questions from all the previous midterms" to "some questions word for word, but mostly original questions." So, just like a regular final. Good job, dude.

Professor Hill is very interested in his research. He's not the best lecturer. I was told he never had a book before spring 2010 and now he does. I at least skimmed most chapters and it helped on the tests. They're not the easiest tests but they're aren't the hardest either. He gave 4 exams and a final, all worth the same amount so if you're satisfied with the grade of the 4 exams you don't have to take the final. Its required for a PSYC major so its one of those classes you just have to sit through.

Good class, but Hill didn't seem like he wanted to teach. He's obviously there for his research. Can sometimes tell a good joke, but he doesn't know how to design a "fair" test.

This class was supposed to be easy, but I thought it was pretty challenging. I think he changed the structure of the course this semester. Some test questions come directly from reading without him ever talking about it in class. Apparently his final used to be recycled questions from old midterms, but he stopped doing that this semester to make the course harder. I honestly thought the material was interesting when I was reading the book, but the way Professor Hill presents the material was so boring that I found it almost impossible to pay attention in class.

Wow. Just...wow. He apparently changed the entire course this semester because it was too easy before. Now there's a book. No, he did not have a book for however many years he taught this course. This is apparent in his utter inability to correlate the book to the lectures. He would send out long emails dissecting each chapter down to the sentence of what to read - it would have been easier if he had just said to read the whole damn book.

I've never been more disappointed in a class in my life. I was looking forward to this class a great deal and Hill ruined it. His lectures, the book, and the tests are all completely out of sync and his expectations are NEVER clear. On top of that, he's got to be one of the worst 5 lecturers I've ever seen who clearly does not want to teach. At all. Take this class with someone else. Anyone else.

This class isn't very hard but if you miss class or skip the readings the tests are pretty awful. You have to both go to class and read the textbook, but there are no assigned readings; you mostly just figure it out for yourself.

It's rather unfortunate that this class is required for the psychology major, since the relationship between neurology and behavior (which is presumably the reason that psyc majors have to take this course) came up MAYBE twice all semester. Prof. Hill's lectures were reductive and simplistic; he covered complex topics very superficially and without much enthusiasm. (I know, I know, this is the _easy_ neuropsyc class, for non-science people. I should have taken the 4000-level class. But I'm NOT a science person. Prof. Hill didn't teach complex topics very effectively.) Prof. Hill was also unable to stick to his schedule, which led to (the more interesting) topics a the end of the semester being covered much more quickly (and even more superficially) than those at the beginning of the semester. I also did not appreciate Prof. Hill's childish tone in lectures. Prof. Hill, are you really unable to maturely explain what a rectal thermometer (gasp!) is? Overall, and perhaps most frustratingly, I felt like Prof. Hill managed to make potentially interesting material boring and inaccessible.

I was told that this class was an easy science credit--a class for athletes, etc. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. i found this class very difficult--tests are really hard and cover a lot of material in the book. It's not really a psychology or biology class--covers a wide range of random topics.

Prof. Hill teaches at a pretty slow pace and repeats things a lot, which may have seemed boring to some but I actually found it helpful. He posts his lecture notes online and lets you drop an exam. It is NOT HARD to get a B in this class if you go to lecture. If you want an A then you actually have to read. Overall, I found the material interesting and would recommend taking this class.

This was meant to be an interesting and fun class; however, this professor doesn't know anything. He reminds me of a professor in the 70's that would come to class high. I think I could teach the class better and his test suck more than he does. I feel sorry to psych. majors for having to struggle through this none sense.

Not too difficult, interesting to life-sciences geared folks.
I would have found it useful as a psyc major to take this early on, material in other classes makes more sense if you already have the psycho-bio background.

Very easy. DO NOT BUY THE BOOK FOR THIS COURSE. Everything you need to know comes straight out of lecture. Seriously, if you buy the book you are wasting your money. Hill is hilarious and he really tries to make sure students understand. Great class!

As long as you go to class and pay attention you will be fine. You don't have to read the book it is more for just reinforcement

Major: Psychology

As others have said, midterms questions come directly from lectures and the final exam questions are all from past midterms. My way of dealing with this course was to take the first 2 midterms, skip the 3rd one (which is usually the hardest), and then take the final (which everyone can get full score). Otherwise, you can take all of the midterms and skip the final exam (yes, you can skip the final as all the exams count equal weight to your grade), so that you will have more time to prepare for other final exams.

This is the easiest course in Psychology.

Professor Hill's exams are based entirely on the lectures, so the book is only needed if you want clarification on the lecture topics. But because of this, it is imperative that you attend every lecture. If you go, listen, and take good notes, you should be good to go because his exams are not difficult at all. And it's not too much of a burden because Professor Hill is pretty entertaining. Good class- take it!

Professor Hill is pretty funny and a good lecturer, sometimes goes off into tangents when explaining things. Tests are straightforward if you do the readings and have basic summaries of the lectures, and the final exam is all composed of questions from the first 4 midterms, PLUS he drops the lowest score of the 5 exams. Good course to take.

Great course, initially thought it would be a walk through the park, but if you want an A it requires a bit more work. Just read the book in addition to attending the lectures and taking good notes, and you will get a A.

While I have no experience with Brunjes' version of this course, I have heard that it is much tougher. Hill does simplify the material a little too much--to the point that he sometimes makes it more confusing by putting off answering questions--but he certainly knows his stuff. If you talk to him outside of class, he'll fill you in on the neuroscience that you really want to know. This is a nice review of brain structures and sensory systems that you might have learned in an introductory psychology course. The book that we used this semester went into far more detail than the lectures and his tests are based purely off lecture, so reading the text is superfluous.

If you're a psychology major who's dreading this required course, don't fear. Hill is incredibly entertaining in a really nerdy way.

Some star quotes from this semester include:
"It was like a symphony... a nerd duet."
"Better to hurt than to die, that's what I always say!"
"There's an annual meeting for the society of neuroscientists--otherwise known as nerdfest."
Student: "How do they keep the cat's eyes still?"
Hill: "Sing to it."

Hill is a great professor, funny and helpful too. He really cares about students getting the information rather than cramming it down your throat for time's sake. I loved the bio aspect of this class, but still counted for psych major.

This is basically an introductory neuroscience course. The class isn't too difficult, but sometimes you aren't sure what to study for the tests; Dr. Hill says his tests are based on the lectures and not the book, which means you really have to pay attention during lecture. He does a decent job of being funny and trying to make the class interesting, but it's still neuroscience, which is boring until you have all the basics down. It's a good intro course if you want to learn about neurobiology.

This class was a lot of fun. I'm a bio major, and the material was all very easy for me (and I'd assume it would be for most bio people). Easy A. Interesting, relevant material and fair, multiple choice exams. Hill is hilarious and a great lecturer

I enjoyed Hill's class immensely. His lectures were interesting and he explained everything clearly and concisely. Though it's a huge class, he's really open to questions during class. I had Brunjes once as a substitue, and I personally thought that Hill is a much better lecturer. Great thing about Hill's class is that you can drop a test, final included!

This is your standard intro-level psych class. Easy, relatively fun. Go to lecture, read the book, take multiple-choice tests and drop one of them. If you are interested in the biology aspect of psychology, this is a great class to get some basics concepts down. There are two professors that teach this class (Hill and Brunjes) and of the two I hear that Hill is the easier if that matters to you.