I took this class with Mazurek, while my brother took it with Wilson. Though Wilson seems to be very highly regarded in the field and my brother did like him, I think Mazurek is the "easier" deal. Whereas Wilson has papers and projects intermixed, Mazurek does 4 midterms and a final, with the lowest midterm being dropped. The three counted midterms make up 70% of the course, whereas the final makes up the remaining thirty.

The threshold for an A is a 95, which is annoying, but attainable. If you want it, you HAVE HAVE HAVE to read the textbook, and memorize some seemingly trivial information. Mazurek doesn't always get through the whole chapter in class, but he expects you to read. The good news is the textbook is pretty easy to read, and what you ought to know is apparent-- bolded vocabulary words.

As a lecturer, I really enjoyed Mazurek. He clearly loves the content and is excited to be teaching it. Lectures are 75 minutes and not always thrilling in terms of content, but he does his best to deliver it with energy and enthusiasm. Curses a lot, which can be fun and occasionally surprising.

Professor is not the best lecturer and goes off on random tangents accompanied with occasional swears and screaming to make his points. Nonetheless, he was very nice and approachable and is very passionate about the class. Changed the threshold of an A to a 95 so its pretty hard to get an A which sucks. READING IS A MUST. Very interesting class though and made me consider psych as a major. Grading can seem a bit unfair at times but he justifies his reasoning whether you like it or not. This class just doesn't seem like one that should have such a high threshold for an A.

The content of this class is very interesting and Professor Mazurek is pretty interesting. The only homework (which is optional) is reading the textbook. Professor Mazurek rarely gets through all of the information from each chapter in the lecture. If you read each chapter, pay attention to the details (especially small details mentioned in class), and take good notes, the tests are relatively simple.

This class teaches you a lot of applicable knowledge that is very helpful to know and comes up in other non-PSYC classes at UVA. Professor Mazurek makes a pretty boring class pretty entertaining and gives all students a great opportunity to succeed. If you actually show up to class (a lot of people don't) the tests will feel really easy and you will get your clicker points. To do well on the tests, you have to thoroughly read to chapters assigned, familiarize yourself with the labs and studies he talks about in class, and really focus on vocabulary because it comes up a lot on the tests. The final is VERY heavy on the last chapters after the fourth test, which messed me up a bit because I studied a lot of the material from the beginning of the class and a lot of it wasn't even used. I still recommend really studying the vocabulary from the entirety of the class, but be sure you treat most of the final like the "fifth test" rather than the final.

This class is totally an easy A if you are willing to create and memorize flashcards. I got smacked before the final, got a B-, and still ended up with an A in the class because I had done so well on the mid-terms. Mazurek is the bomb.

I always wanted to take this class before I graduated, but once I saw Professor Mazurek was teaching it I was even more excited to take it. I had him for a previous class and he is easily one of my favorite professors. His lectures are always entertaining because he's excited and enthusiastic about the material (even super early in the morning!) and the way he teaches makes understanding the material really easy. There are 4 exams (lowest grade dropped), a cumulative final, and daily clicker questions. The written portions of the exams can be a bit tricky because so much detail is required, but he gives partial credit which is great. He is super approachable and does his best to make sure you get the help you need if you visit him during office hours, and goes above and beyond to make sure you have everything you need to be successful. This was a great class and I would absolutely recommend taking this class (or any class) with Mazurek!

Mazurek is one of my favorite professors I've had throughout my experience at UVA. His lectures are extremely entertaining- he makes them fun and applicable. Moreover, the material you learn in this course is applicable to everyday life, so understanding the principle concepts of social psychology is really simple. I wouldn't say this class is an easy A, but rather an easy A- or B+. You can definitely get an A if you don't just "skim" and you focus a little more on the "small details" he doesn't always talk about in lecture. He allows you to drop your lowest of 4 midterms (your three highest are worth 60% of your grade). The final exam is worth 30% of your grade, and clicker questions (one per lecture) are worth 10%. His test material is extremely straightforward and is mainly pulled from lectures and also touches on experiments you learn about during lecture. Anything not learned in lecture that was part of the reading is fair game for a midterm or final (but it's usually made into a multiple choice question). However, the fill-in-the-blank questions can be really specific vocab terms and are sometimes pretty tricky (it separates the A's from the A- groups). Overall, I really enjoyed this class and would highly recommend it. It's not too time intensive and Mazurek is an awesome, very friendly, very informative professor (and he's also a Jeopardy winner if you ever get the chance to ask him about it!).

If you are interested in psychology, this is an awesome course to take. I really enjoyed AP psych in high school and absolutely loved this course. Professor gives interesting lectures and does a great job of applying psych concepts to funny/engaging real life scenarios. Only homework is reading and you are tested on the reading with daily iclicker questions. The readings never take more than 20 minutes and the textbook is at about a third grade reading level (but is interesting). The tests are SO EASY. The questions are really straightforward. For 98% of the questions, he gives you a social scenario and you have to say what psychology vocab term applies to that situation. Many of the test question scenarios come straight from the reading. Also, many test questions come straight from lectures so you definitely want to attend class. Since the reading doesn't take long, I usually just did it the night before the test and memorized the vocab he taught in class and I got high A's on all the test, very easily. If you go to class and study but DONT do the readings, you can probably pull off a B or a B+ on the tests. You take 4 tests (drops the lowest) and a final. I actually learned a lot of stuff that I could apply to every day life and I genuinely looked forward to going to class. In a nutshell: if you go to class (which is interesting), do the reading (which is short and interesting), and study for a few hours the night before the test, you will get an A.

Professor Mazurek is really there to help you. I didn’t do so hot on the first exam, ended up meeting with him in office hours weekly, and improving with each exam. In addition, because he knew me, the class was roughly about 100 students, and knew that I truly wanted to improve and put in the effort - my end of the course grade should have been a C+. He bumped me up to a B-. If you think you’ll like psyc, take it, but I’m pretty neutral about the subject. All my friends think I hate psyc just because it was difficult for me, haha but it’s all good if you’ve had exposure to psyc before.

Professor Mazurek is a great professor. His lectures are MUCH less boring than Smyth's. Tests aren't difficult if you do the reading and know the material, and clicker questions are easy, but the fill in the blank can be tricky. they can be really specific and trip you up and they're worth a lot on the exams so it can quickly hurt your grade. I wouldn't say easy A because you need to go to lecture and do the readings and the fill in the blank, but manageable class overall and enjoyable.