Jennifer Mangels

Though there are no tests in the class- and Dr. Mangels' writes very difficult exams- you are required to write a weekly 2-page (single-spaced, often difficult to squeeze onto the two pages) as well as pair up with a student and lead an entire lecture. The amount of reading is very heavy- the articles are often interesting but the text, which you only use during the first half of the class, is long and painfully boring/dense. Dr. Mangels is a great lecturer and discussion leader and the class is really interesting. The seminar leading on your own will probably take a good 20 - 30 hours of preparation/ research. If you like neuroscience, definitely take the course! If you like Dr. Mangles from Mind, Brain and Behavior definitely take the class! It was a really interesting class and Dr. Mangles really knows how to pick good material to keep you interested. I highly recommend this course to anyone with an interest in psychology/or neuroscience.

I generally concur with the other reviews on here, but want to stress that Dr. Mangels is a phenomenal professor, in my opinion. The course was very difficult, disproportionately so for an introductory level course. However, the material was really interesting, and practical and current - - significantly moreso than in the other intro psych course (Science of Psych)- - and Dr. Mangels is interesting, clear, concise and totally transparent as a professor. You know exactly what you need to do, need to know, what opportunities will help push you forward in the class. Whether you have the time or inclination to actually do them is another issue, but I think Dr. Mangels is the kind of professor who can inspire someone to choose neuropsychology as a future profession - which is pretty powerful and I am grateful that someone of this caliber is teaching an intro level course. The self tests were very difficult but very useful for the exams. There was a lot of anatomy and a lot of memorization in that area, which is rough for some (like me) but doable if you set your mind to it. The first two exams were reasonable and the final was quite difficult, but she gives you very clear review sheets for every exam. Stick to them and you will be in good shape.

What is everyone talking about? "All of the neuroscience majors throw off the curve too much"--"This class is overwhelming and hard." Look, you have to know what you're getting into from the beginning. If you want an easy class to fulfill a science requirement, don't go with this one. At the same time, you don't have to be in the field to appreciate it. I am by no means a neuroscience major: after high school I vowed never to take another math class again. I am a freshman. I did take this class to fulfill my science requirement and yet I finished the class with a freakin' A+. It was the last thing I expected. After looking on CULPA before I took it I was petrified, but I took it anyway because I didn't have many other options and I think it's interesting. If you don't think it's interesting, don't take it. This has to be something you like to learn about. Yes, there's an insane amount of information in the class, but it comes part and parcel with COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE. That's exactly what the class is. She gives extra credit--that's so generous! Yes, it often takes more than an hour to successfully complete a self test, but you should do it anyway because that information is almost always covered in some form on the exam. Yes, it forces you to go back through your old notes, but you're going to have to do that anyway to study! You might as well get credit for it. Be prepared…

Like the previous reviewer, I had a love-hate relationship with this course. I found most of the material very interesting, but had a strong distaste for MangelsÂ’ approach to teaching. There were some good things: Mangels is quite organized and her lectures are fairly easy to follow. She incorporates video, overheads, and blackboard notes pretty well. Our TAs were knowledgeable and tried to be helpful. Mangels herself is a fairly nice woman, enthusiastic, and happy to answer questions during lecture. All of the good aspects aside, I still would not recommend this class to anyone who did not have BOTH a strong interest in psychology (or rather, brain anatomy) and lots of time to devote to studying ridiculously detailed anatomical details of the brain. There is practically no understanding required to do well in this course, just memorization. For example, although you will have no idea what a superior olivary nucleus IS, you will be required to know that it is part of the auditory pathway. Anyone who has to take MBB for whatever reason (psych or neuroscience majors), IÂ’ve heard that Weidenmeyer (who teaches second semester) is a much more reasonable professor (and has an accent to boot). MangelsÂ’ biggest fault is that she attempts to teach far too much. She covers a lot of topics (itÂ’s an overwhelming amount) and most of them are interesting. She teaches each topic in great…

I concur with the review on December 24. I withdrew from the class after the second exam. The class requires an ENORMOUS amount of time commitment. As the reviewer before me stated, this is a 3 unit, 1000 level class. Dr. Mangels' expectations are unreasonable. This is evident in her rigid teaching style. She covers an enormous amount of material each and every class, sticking to her lesson plan. She appears annoyed with questions from students because the questions cut into her pre-programmed structure. This leaves little room for spontaneity in the class and real learning gets lost. I would never recommend this class to anyone.

I had a love-hate relationship with this course. Ultimately, I can't recommend it. IÂ’ll begin with the good (and there is quite a bit): Jennifer Mangels is a fantastic lecturer. She integrates powerpoint, overheads, the chalkboard and great movies to present the material in a fun and interesting way. She often gives cute anecdotes and nmemonic which make the material easier to learn and remember. The TAs were great – they always explained things clearly, and the two guest lectures they gave were good. That being said, the workload of this class was RIDICULOUS. Although none of the material was particularly difficult, there was TONS OF IT and the level of detail is overwhelming, requiring tons of studying and memorization time. The review sheet for the final exam was SEVEN PAGES LONG, and that was only half of the exam (unlike most classes, this final is truly cumulative). I quickly began dreading the weekly self-tests which required me to go back hunting through my notes (and the book) for the most minor details. The book does a really terrible job explaining things, but they might be switching to another book next year. Although many of the lectures presented really interesting material, some were excruciatingly dry (for example, the architecture of the hippocampus) and required pure memorization. On a few lectures, she didnÂ’t manage her time well and spent the last 10 min…

Mangels is a great lecturer and you learn a lot in her class. She clearly knows how to teach a class and is very accessible via email and office hours. The class itself, though, is really hard. I went into it having taken 4 other psychology classes here (including ones about the brain & cognition) and found this course to go more in depth with every subject... which means a lot of studying for exams. I personally thought the exams were hard, but extra credit counts for a lot. She mentions that she curves exams - the first one a lot of people did well on, so no curve, the second was only curved 3 points and the final 8 (out of 144). So basically don't count on much of a curve. If you're willing to put in the work it's a good class but be ready to work hard... about 9% of our class failed and another 13% or so got Ds as final grades... and with a bunch of junior & senior psych and neuroscience majors in the course, it's basically study your ass off and get an A or B or don't study too much and fail.

Dr. Mangels has had plenty of good reviews already, but given the last few, I felt I had to respond. I found this course to be very interesting. The nature of the course is such that the first half of the semester is mostly biology, and you may decide that this is not your cup-of-tea, but that in no way qualifies it as a boring, misguided course. I found Dr. Mangels to be a fascinating lecturer, and I felt that she is just an amazing person. For example, in one of her interactive experiments, one of the test words was 'terrorist.' After the experiment, she made a side-comment that "much later, you'll tell your grandkids that you had this experiment, and you still remember the word 'terrorist' being in it, and they'll say, 'What's a terrorist, grandpa?' Wouldn't that be nice?" Dr. Mangels' human side made it such a pleasure for me to learn from her. I love you Dr. Mangels!

Just to counter many of the reviews, which seem to have been from people looking for an easy way to satisfy their science requirement: Mind, Brain and Behavior is a fantastic course, if you take it to be an introduction to cognitive neuroscience. Professor Mangels does an excellent job of exploring in depth a great variety of topics in a clear and interesting way. This was the course which motivated me to become a Neuroscience and Behavior major; if you're considering it at all Mangels is definitely the professor to take this class with. That said, the same reason that makes this class great for the science-inclined may make it an awful experience for those who are looking for the least painful way to satisfy their requirement. But if you're prepared to put in the effort, anyone can leave the class with some really comprehensive knowledge.

Evil, Evil, Evil! Stay away from this woman. I read reviews about her before I took the class thinking, "it can't be THAT bad." Well, it is worse. She is a brilliant woman, don't get me wrong, she knows her stuff. The problem is that she knows everything but can't grasp the fact that other people don't pick up on it so easily. Mangels just talks 'at' you during lectures. She is easily annoyed when people ask a lot of questions. The self tests, extra articles, etc are all well and good but they are too time consuming and can be a waste. If you dont get ALL of the extra credit questions right, you get NO credit. How ridiculous. If you really need this class just wait until a spring semester to have a different teacher.