Fall 2026

The Criminal Mind: Forensic and Psychobiological Perspectives

Overview of criminal psychology and forensic/psychobiological processes addressing criminal behavior.

offering recorded4 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Patti Coffey3.9/5Adam BakerAvery Wright

Summary

1 / 7

The workload includes weekly readings, multiple exams, and a paper, which can initially seem daunting but is generally considered manageable if students keep up. Exams are typically multiple-choice and based on lecture material.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

PSYCH 401, 403, 405, or 456

PSYCH 526 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Fall 2026
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.29/5 from 17 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 5.0/5 raw quality · 2.8/5 difficulty · 10 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Patti Coffey is consistently praised as an excellent, knowledgeable, and engaging lecturer who draws on her forensic psychology experience. Reviewers highlight her fairness, kindness, and clear grading, noting that exams are manageable if students attend lectures and take notes. The course is described as rewarding and highly recommended for those interested in criminal justice.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.89 GPA, 94.1% A/AB (n=188 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.81 GPA, 91.6% A/AB (n=190 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews for Patricia Coffey describe her as knowledgeable, passionate, and approachable, with clear and engaging lectures. Some students found the content dry or boring later in the term, and noted that her private practice made out-of-class meetings difficult.

AVERY WRIGHT is recorded teaching in Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PATRICIA COFFEY is recorded teaching in Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction190 / 19264
DIS 301Classroom Instruction24 / 246
DIS 302Classroom Instruction24 / 2410
DIS 303Classroom Instruction24 / 247
DIS 304Classroom Instruction23 / 2410
DIS 305Classroom Instruction23 / 2410
DIS 306Classroom Instruction24 / 2410
DIS 307Classroom Instruction24 / 246
DIS 308Classroom Instruction24 / 246

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Reviewers consistently praise Dr. Patti Coffey as an engaging and knowledgeable instructor who makes criminal psychology interesting. Students find the course rewarding, with fair exams and high-quality lectures that draw on her professional experience.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.85 GPA, 93.0% A/AB (n=157 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.89 GPA, 94.1% A/AB (n=188 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.81 GPA, 91.6% A/AB (n=190 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The workload includes weekly readings, multiple exams, and a paper, which can initially seem daunting but is generally considered manageable if students keep up. Exams are typically multiple-choice and based on lecture material.

Students appreciate the fair grading, clear expectations, and significant extra credit opportunities. The course is highly recommended for those interested in criminal justice, with many noting the empathetic and treatment-focused approach to difficult content.

Topics

  • Criminal psychology, forensic processes, psychobiological processes
  • Criminal behavior

Skills

  • Overview of criminal psychology and forensic/psychobiological processes.

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.09 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
PSYCH 526 · Fall 2026

The Criminal Mind: Forensic and Psychobiological Perspectives

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:820:023833",
    "course_id": "PSYCH 526",
    "course_uid": "course_f4bee73bb22fcf1ff1ba3468",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "023833",
    "source_subject_id": "820",
    "title": "The Criminal Mind: Forensic and Psychobiological Perspectives",
    "credits_min": 4,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "9890421577ddd01b618e85f2f93b3fd68c8a5d0162e26cb7ba5d4d695c317b64",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}