Cognitive Psychology · Psychology
3 midterms + a final. drops your lowest midterm. spring 2025 was 12 Qs per midterm and the final took a lot of questions from the previous midterms. not multiple choice, but was just drawing graphs mainly
Reasonable for a lab, but excruciating and fruitless.
One 1 page discussion question weekly, two quizes, one midterm, one ten page research paper.
Just the text. The exams are straightforward. Yes, hard--like EVERY psych exam in the dept. Pray for yourself
I was worried about this course going into it because of these culpa reviews, but honestly this was one of my favorite classes I've taken at Columbia (or technically Barnard). Her exams are literally 12 questions long each (3 midterms total), and very straightforward. It was an exam of just drawing the exact graphs that we covered in class. Like may have been the easiest exams I've taken in my time at Columbia, given that I did actually *shocker* study! not an insane amount, I literally just straight memorized the graphs (like the words that go on each axis and what goes inside. so simple). she posts her slides but her slides are not enough to understand what's going on. so the ONE "bad" thing about this class is that you HAVE to *go* to class. but like as long as you go to class, you will literally be so fine. my friend who would skip class I believe ended with an A-, so you could still do fine, but if you just go to class you're almost guarenteed an A. her review sessions are also great and she pretty much tells you what you need to study.
I have to agree with the previous reviews. Jasia made me feel stupid. She made me feel terribly about myself. She tainted my experience in Cognitive Psychology altogether, which is a shame because it could have been moderately enjoyable. Instead, it was terrible and I would not wish it on my worst enemy to take a class with Jasia. I can say with confidence that she is the worst professor I've ever had in college. Please do not take this class unless you have masochistic tendencies.
She is the worst "professor" I've ever encountered at Barnard. She should be fired. When I graduate in a few years, I intend upon writing a letter outlining the various reasons why she's a bad instructor and how she ruins the lab experience. She's the kind of professor that makes me not want to donate to this school, ever. She is not clear. She does not explain anything well, and expects her students to magically figure out what she was TRYING to say. Not only that, she is crazy, mean, and unfair. The only way you're going to do well in this class is if you are a gifted academic, a senior, a psych major, or a total suck up - with emphasis on the latter. An example: this semester, she randomly broke out in a yelling fit because she felt not enough people were participating during the mental rotation lab. She literally made a girl cry. Keep in mind that this lab class is full of people who don't know psychology well (no less understand the complexities of MENTAL ROTATION) and are just trying to fill the requirement. Most don't have anything insightful to say, and if they did, they wouldn't know when or how to say it because she is so unbelievably unclear. Oh and by the way, she'll try and dock points off of your grade in any way she can. If she doesn't like you (she picks and chooses random people to not like), you're screwed. The bottom line is you should stay far away from her…
Brigid's lecture style is completely nonlinear which can make her difficult to follow. Her comments are not wholly relevant and she lacks the experience to really explain any of the key concepts in cognition or learning/memeory. Neither does she have the hard science background to answer biology or anatomy questions. In total she seems more of a compelling high school science teacher than a thought provoking university level instructor. The exams she writes are taken right from quotes on her slides so if you don't remember (and can't regurgitate) the slides verbatim, you're out of luck. By the second half of the semester one third of the class had dropped and another third skipped the tedious power point lectures on a regular basis.
She's a really straight forward professor. The exams are just hard, but you can't change that. People should stop complaining about her because she is really a great professor. She won't spoon feed you exam answers, and unless you're a baby, you won't complain. She's young, approaches things with a fresh mind. The lectures are funny at times and nicely organized. The best thing is her attitude. She is very approachable, frank. Overall, a sophisticalted professor. Now it's your choice to like that or not. There were sooooo many kids in the class. I think that everyone who got a decent grade--that is 88% didn't write a review. So don't judge her, especially when the few low grades wrote reviews.
No assignments or attendance requirement 3 midterms, 2 best are counted for grade and 1 final exam each exam is around 12-13 questions and the final is the same length If you have psych background you dont really need to go to class, just go for the review classes 1 class before the midterm because she basically gives the questions/answers which are all small simple drawings/graphs. Learn how to draw them and go through the ppts once and you will be set easiest A ever