PSYC 5325

Prof. Salthouse is AWESOME. He's so knowledgeable and passionate about his field. I feel honored to have taken a class with such a renowned cognitive neuroscientist. He's also just the cutest little man!!!

Grade distribution:
"There are a total of 100 points possible in the course. Each of 12 quizzes* will be worth 5 points,
and you will be allowed to drop the lowest score, for a total of 55 possible points. Attendance and participation in discussions will be worth a total of 15 points, and the paper will be worth a maximum of 30 points. Missing more than three class periods will likely result in a failing grade. Cutoffs for grades will be: A = 90-100; B = 80-89; C = 70-79; D = 60-69; F = Below 60."

The quizzes are SUPER easy. They're only 5 questions each, and If you pay attention in lecture (or are capable of using the ctrl+F to search through his lecture .pdf files), you'll get 100% on all of them.

Overall great class, definitely recommend

A lot of reading but you can get away with skimming through the articles. The first half of the 2.5 hour once-a-week lecture is him reviewing the articles and giving a broad introduction to the week's topic. He's not that great of a lecturer, as he does not keep you engaged. The second half is discussion based, but it really is just you and a group of other classmates examining what researchers have done wrong in the studies you read. Exams are open book, open note, open web and are online. One research paper due at the end of the semester. I don't think I actually learned much over the course of the semester. However, the class is an easy A. Great upper-level course for Cog Sci and Psyc majors.

Thought I'd write an updated review since the class grading structure seems to has changed a bit. Overall, loved this course! Topics were extremely interesting, although Prof Salthouse going through slides for 1hr and 15 mins can get rather boring. He does try to keep you engaged though, and all the studies and videos he shows are extremely fascinating. Lots of reading for the 1st half of the course, but try to keep on track and answer the study questions as you do the readings. I personally thought the readings were very engaging, and I looked forward to them (especially the case study readings). Grades are based on a short answer midterm and final exam (both closed book/note), each worth 40% of your grade, and a final presentation worth 10%. Just do the readings and the study guides, and you'll be fine for the tests. He's also a pretty lenient/fair grader, so just follow his instructions for what to study and you'll get an A, I guarantee it.