Christoph Wiedenmayer

Prof. Wiedenmayer was my favorite psychology professor at Columbia. His lectures were always clear, concise, and informative. He had the ability to relate even the most complicated topics to novice learners. Prof. Wiedenmayer had a gift for teaching, and he truly cared that his students learned and absorbed his lessons. His passion for the topic was always apparent, as his love for science and natural curiosity always shined through. In addition to his teaching, Prof. Wiedenmayer was a great mentor to his students. I took two classes with him, and I can say that he is largely responsible for opening my eyes to neuroscience. He will be greatly missed by many, but his legacy as a wonderful professor, a supportive mentor, and a kind and caring individual will live on through all of those fortunate enough to have known him. Thank you Prof. Wiedenmayer for all that you shared. I am truly grateful to have gotten to know you.

He was one of the best professors that I ever had. May he rest in peace. I wanted to leave some comments from his friends and family so that he can be remembered not only as a professor at Columbia, but also as just a really great guy, and a real scholar. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Christoph was always the first to come to our parties and the always the first to leave, too. And he loved punk rock and new wave. Saw some legends like the Damned, Joey Ramone and Joe Strummer with him in NYC. RIP." Roman "I am still under shock and cannot believe that Christoph has passed away so quick. We were close friends since the beginning of the eighties and did a long way together. He was with me in the ups and down of life. I am so sad. Que la terre lui soit légère." Paul "It is very touching to read a lot of emotional reactions about Christoph… from students and friends at Columbia and N.Y. – and now we start joining you – as Paul from Switzerland has already done, now I – because we are sad and will miss a wonderful friend." Annette - Switzerland "Thank you all for your kind and wonderful words- soothing and saddening at the same time. We lost a brother and friend and godfather and son and we are hurting so much. I am happy and proud of him hearing that he was able to contribute and convey his passionate interest in sci…

I thoroughly enjoyed the class with Christoph. His lectures a thorough and well organized and he often even ends class five minutes early. Extra credit work and study credits are offered and the exams are very straight forward with multiple choice and a short answer. The tests are mostly lecture based, so go to class and take notes and you'll be fine. He's also very nice and willing to help students if you absolutely need it.

Prof Christoph is a developmental psychobiologist at the department of psychiatry in the medical campus. But, for this course, his lectures were incredibly rudimentary and simple. The course basically comprises of memorizing his powerpoint lectures. The textbook is not needed at all. The exam questions at many times do not accurately judge your knowledge and understanding of the material, but rather, judge basic rote memorization of the lectures word-for-word. BTW, the exams are incredibly simple. Really, really, really, really simple. Really. Just rote memorize the lectures, and you will be fine. But the thing is, because of this, the median is quite high and the standard deviation is incredibly low. Thus, a difference of 3 points on the exam can fling your grade of a B to an A.

Wiedenmayer is one of the greatest teachers at columbia. he really cares about the class, and he shows it. His english is not so great, so some of the test questions don't make sense. otherwise, the class is really not bad at all. This is a good option for the science requirement.

While not exactly riveting, this class is the perfect way to fulfill a psych or science requirement. Prof. Wiedenmayer is an excellent lecturer and teacher, he knows his stuff and is very responsive to student questions and concerns--he responds to emails almost immediately. Something to know before you go into the class, however: do not, under any circumstances, do the reading. It will waste your time, and may even confuse you. The tests are SOLELY based on the lectures. Also, make sure you do all of the extra credit. It will help you in the end. Finally, the tests are VERY nit-picky. Though they are straight-forward, you must have all the details of the lecture flawlessly memorized. Overall, the class is worthwhile, but just make sure you know these things going into it.

Any introduction course is frightening at first, especially if you have little to no background in the subject. However, I did suprising well in Mind, Brain, and Behavior with minimal effort. Professor Wiednmayer's teaching style is very straight foward. Just make sure to print out the slides before class, write notes on them while in his lecture, and study straight from that. No need to use the textbook (I didn't even buy it), or study for days. Simply review three hours before the exam, do the extra credit and you get an A. Now, even though the class didn't require a lot of work, it was still a pretty interesting class. Professor Wiednmayer, with his silly little German accent, keeps everyone entertained and focused on the material, by using examples and anacdotes related to whatever subject we currently are covering. He was a wonderful professor, and I would recommend him to anyone who considers into going into psychology/neuroscience orwho is simply interested in the brain and would like an intro class that doesn't make you want to surgically remove your brain.

Professor Wiedenmayer is one of the most organized and best prepared lecturers I've ever come across. His presents his lectures off a powerpoint slideshow which you are actually able to print before class in a format that allows you to write notes next to each slide. Because of this, this was probably the easiest class I've ever had to review for at the end of semester. The material is fairly straight forward. This is a survey course, so if sciences are not your thing you will probably be fine. There's a bit of basic biology but no chemistry or physics. That said, if sciences are your thing (especially if you're a psyc major) you may find yourself wishing there was a little more depth. If you are going to be a psyc or neuro sciences major and are thinking of just taking Science of Psyc to fulfill your freshman requirements, you may do well to take this class as well. It will set you up for any neuro classes you take later on as well as give you a good foundational knowledge of neuro anatomy and physiology.

an easy class, even for non science people. not too much work. he is a nice guy. stick to his lectures and not the book to study for exams.

A subject like this is built on foundations from anatomy and neuroscience, and at the same time it has to be dumbed down in order to make a fair 1000-level course. This was a very bad combination for me. Because the course has to be accessible, the material is removed from its context, and in this sense becomes largely incoherent. The nonscientific students come out thinking that they didn't understand the biology, but I think the lack of context and logical continuity trips them up more. You end up sitting in a lecture hall with 100+ people [who often talk, go online, and leave garbage on the floor] and watch slides flash on the screen. I disagree with reviewers who have called Christoph precise or clear. The lectures seem misty, I think reflecting the problem of the lack of context I just wrote about. One reviewer said that Christoph didn't seem that bright, and I can understand this accusation, but, still, I think it's more of a problem of him trying to communicate after having dropped scientific language for the sake of having a course that easily fulfils a science requirement. I still think it's possible to have a 1000-level Mind, Brain, Behavior type course for students without a science background, but so much vagueness needs to be cleaned up. I would have learned a lot more and made much more effective use of time if I just received a list of assignments to do alone in…