Historical instructor

PAULA NIEDENTHAL

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.00/5 from 21 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.

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

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

PSYCH 508
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Likes to "show off" who she has worked with. Seems a little insecure. It's almost like she spent more time trying to explain why her field was relevant/important, instead of actually teaching material. Uses a few studies I thought were bogus to justify the scientific method/relevance. It made me have less respect for emotional psych. repetitive.
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PSYCH 508
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Niedenthal was by far my favorite professor that I have had at UW Madison! She is very good at teaching and most of the information is from studies she has personally conducted.
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PSYCH 508
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
I loved this class and Niedenthal. Extremely interesting content and lectures. She is so clearly passionate about the subject and presents a lot of her own research within the course. Comes across as a little intimidating at first but in a way that makes you do well. Couldn't recommend this class enough!!!!
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PSYCH 508
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Assignments are super easy. Most of the work you will do in this class is reading the textbook chapters each week and studying for the exams. Exams are a good chunk of your grade and sometimes she tries to trick you with the "which is the best answer" but if you know the information you will be fine. Experienced researcher and interesting lectures.
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PSYCH 508
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
I really enjoyed this class! Unlike many other psych classes, there are a few short writing assignments outside of just exams and papers, which I appreciated. Prof. Niedenthal is super knowledgable, caring, and fun. Her lectures can be unengaging at times, but mostly good. Textbook is a bit dense at times but did help me understand things better.
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P508 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Niedenthal comes across as very knowledgable on course material and is also really engaging, which is rare to find in a professor. She seems to genuinely care about her students, and I highly recommend Psych 508 to anyone wanting to learn about the psychology of emotions.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with PAULA NIEDENTHAL

PSYCH 621 is a mentored research and seminar course where students design and conduct research to extend current understanding in a topic area.

No offering record · Spring 2026

with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2021–Spring 2026

No offering record · Spring 2026

with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2021–Spring 2026
PSYCH 990

Research

1–12 credits

PSYCH 990 is an independent research course involving experimental, observational, or statistical investigation under faculty supervision.

No offering record · Spring 2026

No recorded grade history

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2026PSYCH 711Current Topics in Psychology
Spring 2026PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2025PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2025PSYCH 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2025PSYCH 692Undergraduate Thesis
Fall 2025PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2025PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2025PSYCH 691Undergraduate Thesis
Spring 2025PSYCH 692Undergraduate Thesis
Spring 2025PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2024PSYCH 508Psychology of Human Emotions: From Biology to Culture
Fall 2024PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2024PSYCH 691Undergraduate Thesis
Fall 2024PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2024PSYCH 508Psychology of Human Emotions: From Biology to Culture
Spring 2024PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2024PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2023PSYCH 508Psychology of Human Emotions: From Biology to Culture
Fall 2023PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2023PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2023PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2023PSYCH 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2023PSYCH 692Undergraduate Thesis
Spring 2023PSYCH 728Classic Issues in Social Psychology
Spring 2023PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2022PSYCH 508Psychology of Human Emotions: From Biology to Culture
Fall 2022PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2022PSYCH 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2022PSYCH 691Undergraduate Thesis
Fall 2022PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2022PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2022PSYCH 692Undergraduate Thesis
Spring 2022PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2021PSYCH 508Psychology of Human Emotions: From Biology to Culture
Fall 2021PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2021PSYCH 691Undergraduate Thesis
Fall 2021PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2020PSYCH 508Psychology of Human Emotions: From Biology to Culture
Fall 2020PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2020PSYCH 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2020PSYCH 703Proseminar in Social Psychology
Fall 2020PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2020PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2020PSYCH 692Undergraduate Thesis
Spring 2020PSYCH 703Proseminar in Social Psychology
Spring 2020PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2019PSYCH 508Psychology of Human Emotions: From Biology to Culture
Fall 2019PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2019PSYCH 703Proseminar in Social Psychology
Fall 2019PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2019PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2019PSYCH 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2019PSYCH 728Classic Issues in Social Psychology
Spring 2019PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2018PSYCH 508Psychology of Human Emotions: From Biology to Culture
Fall 2018PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2018PSYCH 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2018PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2018PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2018PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2017PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2017PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2017PSYCH 508Psychology of Human Emotions: From Biology to Culture
Spring 2017PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2017PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2016PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2016PSYCH 930Seminar-social Psychology
Fall 2016PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2016PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2016PSYCH 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2016PSYCH 728Classic Issues in Social Psychology
Spring 2016PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2015PSYCH 311Issues in Psychology
Fall 2015PSYCH 508Psychology of Human Emotions: From Biology to Culture
Fall 2015PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2015PSYCH 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2015PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2015PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2015PSYCH 703Proseminar in Social Psychology
Spring 2015PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2014PSYCH 508Psychology of Human Emotions: From Biology to Culture
Fall 2014PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2014PSYCH 703Proseminar in Social Psychology
Fall 2014PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2014PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2014PSYCH 692Undergraduate Thesis
Spring 2014PSYCH 703Proseminar in Social Psychology
Spring 2014PSYCH 728Classic Issues in Social Psychology
Spring 2014PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2013PSYCH 508Psychology of Human Emotions: From Biology to Culture
Fall 2013PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2013PSYCH 691Undergraduate Thesis
Fall 2013PSYCH 703Proseminar in Social Psychology
Fall 2013PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2013PSYCH 703Proseminar in Social Psychology
Fall 2012PSYCH 501Depth Topic in Social Science
Fall 2012PSYCH 703Proseminar in Social Psychology
Spring 2012PSYCH 691Undergraduate Thesis

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
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