Alan Lambert
4 courses · 55 reviews
Courses
All Reviews
He is genuinely a kind teacher that explains concepts so well. It is a very easy to understand course with very interesting material. The tests were always fair, you get exactly what you give. He may not be the most animated professor which may set you off the first few weeks, but stick with him, he is good at what he teaches.
5/5/2026
Wonderful professor! psych dynamics of empathy was one of the most interesting classes i've ever taken. Midterms are extremely straightforward (94% average), and he didn't assign homework. I've recommended him and this class to everyone I know
11/17/2025
Empathy was a great class. Entertaining lectures that featured lots of video clips and ended very early often. Lambert is a great professor and gives fair exams that are easy if you study. You should take this course.
4/15/2025
Stanley Tucci is really stepping up his game and going out of his comfort zone masquerading as a WashU Professor
7/22/2024
2 or less hrs/week
Super easy, no textbook readings at all. Exams all multiple choice and pretty much common sense. Content is interesting, but gets repetitive.
6/18/2024
The class content is interesting, and Dr. Lambert is nice and helpful. I missed a class and he agreed to schedule a meeting with me outside of his office hours to answer my questions about the missing lecture. The class pace was perfect---not too fast or too slow. Reading the textbook and paying good attention to his lectures are important.
1/25/2024
Awful experience in this class. This is not the easy, pscyh class that people make it out to be. Lambert drones on during lectures and reads of slides that have a single photo on them without any words making it impossible to learn material if you miss class. Grade is based off MC exams which purposely trick you in answer choices. DO NOT TAKE THIS!
1/15/2024
Don't take this class if you cannot take multiple choice exams or thrive off a test-based course. I know that goes for most of the psych classes, but take it with another professor if you need this credit. The exams are tricks and contain information you will have never learned about. Trust me, take it off your RW1. It will save your GPA.
12/18/2023
I loved this class! The material was interesting, and lectures were clear, engaging, and not too dense. Dr. Lambert has a fun sense of humor and was happy to answer questions in and out of class. Attending class and reading the textbook are necessary to do well on the midterms, but they're not otherwise difficult.
12/11/2023
You can very easily get a B if you just show up to class (not even take notes) & study the textbook for a single afternoon before the exam. An A will be a little harder but still pretty easy. The entire grade is out of 150 points, 4 50-point MC exams one of which you can drop. Talks a little slow sometimes but overall 7/10 for lecture entertainment
4/25/2023
I really wanted to like this class and professor, but was very disappointed. The content was interesting at first, but became very repetitive as the semester progressed. I could tell that he was passionate, but lectures were still dry. The exams were absolutely ridiculous and asked the most niche details from lectures. 30% interesting, 70% boring
12/20/2021
Prof. Lambert is one of the few professors I have had at WashU that I genuinely did not like. His lecture style was dry and not engaging, and the tests included a ton of material that was only in the textbook, never covered in class. He was inaccessible outside of class and not interested in individual students. Would not recommend.
6/14/2021
Grade was mostly based on multiple choice exams which were so poorly written. Typos, incorrectly coded, tricky wording. 10% of the exam had to be regraded. Unprofessional and frustrating. A member of the teaching team told me Its not about what you know in defense of trickily worded questions. More about reading his mind than material retention
5/8/2021
Professor Lambert is very knowledgeable and makes this relatively new course interesting. However, as the semester went on, the tests became trickier and trickier, some questions just felt like pure trick questions. Even knowing the material related to those questions well won't guarantee getting the right answers.
5/5/2021
Professor Lambert seemed fairly passionate about what he was teaching and allowed for as much classroom engagement as possible given it was an online course. The course itself would get a bit dry at times but I hear it's much better in-person. He seemed a bit aloof at times, but I usually managed to find something interesting in every lecture!
4/27/2021
This was the first year this course was offered and Prof Lambert was the best person to teach it. You could tell he was passionate about the subject, though it wasn't always clear where the course was going. His lectures are funny and interesting. His tests are very fair, so as long as you go to class, you'll do well.
1/2/2020
Really interesting course! Prof Lambert is very knowledgeable and helps students engage with the material. There are clicker questions once in a while so you have to come to class or you could miss points but class is super interesting so it's worth it to come! Tests are very fair and are formatted like all other Psych lecture exams (50 MC q's)
12/4/2019
As a marketing major, I found this class extremely useful and interesting! Prof. Lamberts lectures were always clear (though sometimes a little boring). Simply going to class and keeping up with the textbook sets you up for success.
6/27/2018
The lecture is very bad. Can't really extract things useful. But you still have to go to the class anyways, because for each exam there will be a number of questions that are details covered in the class. Exams are heavily focused on the text books, which is totally different thing from the lecture.
2/6/2017
Dr. Lambert's Social Psych class was great! His lectures always kept my attention and his tests were not too difficult if you show up to lecture and read the book.
12/27/2016
As long as you read the book and go to class you can't possibly do worse than a B+ in social psych. He makes it very clear what you need to know from lecture and the rest is covered by the books bolded terms. Some of his lectures are really interesting, some not so much, but overall good prof
5/9/2016
Lectures are helpful, clear. Can be kind of boring (esp. after having Sommers). Tests are mostly fair; he put a question on the test that came from a section of the book that he explicitly told us we didn't have to read... otherwise the test was pretty standard. Definitely have to go to lecture and read the book.
4/26/2016
Lambert is a good professor and he is available to explain material to students in office hours. He gives good lectures and is clearly an expert in his field. However, he does not respond to emails and he can be aloof and forgetful. He will say not to read certain pages because they won't be tested on, but then the exam will have questions on that.
4/20/2016
Lambert is a great lecturer. I'm almost always surprised when class ends because it feels like an hour hasn't passed.
3/23/2016
Liked him a lot! His lectures are very interesting and he moves at a good pace. I would take another class with him. His section on social psychology was extremely well done and interesting.
10/28/2015
He cares about his students, and makes the material interesting.
12/10/2014
Great lecturer topped with interesting material. A lot of the lecture is from the textbook, but he linked it w a lot of relevant and topical info. If you read the book and attend the lectures, you should be good. Not sure how different his teaching style is in larger lectures, but liked him a lot and would definitely recommend the class.
8/14/2014
Despite the interesting subject matter, he made class kind of boring. However, the textbook isn't bad reading, and if you read the book and go to class you should do well on the tests. It's all multiple choice, but he tests things that he emphasized in class, except for sometimes random stuff he'll ask just to see if you went.
5/14/2013
Liked social psych when I came in, but he somewhat killed it. Lot of his lecture was important for the test but also laced with self-depreciation. It made for a somewhat awkward class, but it was rather dry watching him read his slides... Still, not impossible and not horrible
11/28/2012
Literally just reads his slides out loud, can be very boring. Least favorite psych class so far. Dry.
6/20/2012
took social psych with Lambert! Liked him a lot! the class was interesting but make sure you go even though its a big lecture hall. you need those notes for sure! i would recommend it!
11/14/2011
Lambert was a great professor--made me want to major in psych.
9/3/2009
Good, somewhat funny lecturer. Occasionally rushes the lecture and sometimes feels distant, but overall a good prof for a big intro course.
12/26/2008
He's a good guy...go to class. The test questions come from lecture like 95% of the time
12/16/2008
The course material was very interesting, and the textbook was easy to understand. He basically teaches from the book, but there are some things he says in class that are not in the book. It's a good class to take.
4/17/2008
Tends to get bogged down on topics in lecture, but overwhelmingly in depth in his class
1/12/2008
If you've taken AP Psych, don't be fooled like I was. Make sure you go to every class and TAKE NOTES, because those are what the tests are based on. The test questions are all multiple choice, but often have ambiguous answers and can be confusing unless you've memorized his notes to the letter.
5/16/2007
Lectures not always interesting since he sends slides ahead of time. Very easy tests. Decently interesting.
1/18/2007
pretty funny guy. exam was not too hard. reading the book didn't really help all that much. very complete lectures.
12/19/2006
His own interest and excitment about the subject makes his lectures interesting. He obviously puts a great deal of effort into his preparation and it should be appreciated.
4/25/2006
His lectures were clearer and easier to follow than the other lecturers for the class, and he gives you a good idea of what's going to be on the exam.
4/8/2006
He was cool. He's a nice, down-to-earth guy. Really honest about his own struggles and seems to relate well to students.
9/10/2005
Good guy. Interesting class. Tests were pretty fair. With minimal effort, should get a B pretty easily.
6/3/2005
although kind of boring, Lambert is a fairly good teacher and the subject material is interesting. Tests are a tricky - but its easy to do fairly well in the class. Lambert seems willing to help and cares about students
5/9/2005
Lambert is sometimes interesting in class. He is not very confident in his slides and you can tell by the way he answers logical questions that conflict with his slides. On a grading note, his tests are of a mediocre difficulty with a couple questions that are pretty ambiguous. Easy B+ with extracre
5/2/2005
Interesting course material, not very difficult, approachable, knows what he's talking about
1/28/2005
I liked him the most of the three. He went at a good pace, lectures were clear, and his test fairly covered the material covered in lecture. Not the most dynamic or exciting teacher, but its obvious he still cares about the material. Still a good professor.
1/12/2005
Lambert was pretty good. He wasn't super clear in some of his lectures, but that's about it.
1/6/2005
Lambert was my favorite out of the 3 professors. His lectures were interesting and clear and he has a very endearing style of teaching.
1/2/2005
His lectures were constantly interrupted by his research. I appreciate the attempt to introduce advanced topics in an introductory class, but his research just wasn't very interesting (and it's validity could be questioned). He tried and seemed nice, but his exam was not well written at all.
1/1/2005
The worst of the 3, he doesnt teach well at all, but a nice guy i guess.
12/29/2004
I honestly don't know what his deal is. He's the pushover of the psych department and he seems to be proud of it. The word "tool" comes to mind when talking about Lambert. Lambert, ha!
12/27/2004