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.Rate My Professors ↗
Historical instructor
PAULA NIEDENTHAL
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
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.Rate My Professors ↗
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!!!!Rate My Professors ↗
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.Rate My Professors ↗
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.Rate My Professors ↗
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.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with PAULA NIEDENTHAL
No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.
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Recorded teaching history
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| Term | Course | Title |
|---|
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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