So far his lectures are very detailed and clear, he give many opportunities for questions. Sadly his exams are cumulative :( but hopefully it is not too difficult. His lecture slides are detailed and helps aid the lecture. He's kinda funny sometimes and is extremely passionate about what he is teaching. Too bad he's taken

Great professor, very enthusiastic, and makes classes very entertaining. His lectures were 2.5 hours long but I had no problem paying attention. Exams are challenging, but not at all unfair, very application based and requires you to think instead of just recalling memorized information.

Prof Souza is an AMAZING addition to UofT. I have a social science major but needed to re-take this course for credit. He is by far the best lecturer I have ever had in my undergrad at UofT. He presents material SUPER clearly, even though he's challenging. He always shares opportunities. And TAKE GREAT LECTURE NOTES. It's 95% of the exam.

By far the best prof I've had at UofT thus far! Funny, enthusiastic, passionate about the things he's teaching. His lectures are long, but very engaging and informative. His exams are tough, but also fair and challenging in a very good way. Awesome class! I'd recommend it to anyone.

Souza is a wonderful prof, he is a great addition to UofT. He truly cares about you as a student and wants you to do well. However, that doesnt mean he is generous in exams. His MCQ questions are tricky and he likes to bring 12 or more short answer questions in his exams.

Amazing addition to UTSC. Sets a clear high academic standard to challenge students. Most useful course of my uni career, focused on development of many critical skills. Must participate each class and there are two group projects. Souza is the type of prof that doesn't give you want to want (i.e. free marks), he gives you what you need for growth.

Amazing class if you want to build your public speaking and group work skills. Brain injury is interesting! The course really gave me an opportunity to read articles and think for myself.

The best professor I've had so far! He makes the lectures super interesting and offers help to students whenever they need it. His exams are difficult but if you pay attention in class (and write down everything he says), you'll do fine!

Honestly, best professor I have had in all of undergrad. He is passionate about the material and actually cares about his students. It's the first class I have really actively learned. Definitely recommend taking any class with him and asking for help/advice whenever needed!

Great class, Amazing professor he is very funny and makes long lectures a easier to sit through. Interesting topics and the way that he teaches is very inspiration and shows how he actually cares. Concentrate on the lectures and everything he says in lecture. One midterm and one simple assignment and final. Very balanced and interesting class.

Souza is really an incredible professor. I had his class for three hours every week but he made it entertaining the entire time. He is just a great public speaker in general and keeps the class engaged by telling jokes and relating course content to real patients. He is also very friendly and approachable.

This is a real gem of teacher. Souza is one of the best teachers you will ever get at any university. Only difficulty is learning his question formats, souza isn't here to teach you surface level information (definitions etc.) his tests are designed for you to connected all the information learnt. A thing most 2nd year students aren't used to.

You can ask this guy any question and he will answer it perfectly.

Amazing prof, but tough. His exams are extremely challenging and really make you apply your knowledge. His lectures are informative, engaging, and entertaining. He really works hard to try and make it enjoyable for the students (and succeeds). And hey - I didn't use the textbook and still managed to swing a B from just lecture information.

Easily one of the best professors I've ever had. Took multiple classes with him. And the stuff you learn in his class really sticks. Such a gem.

this course was very hard and the exams are all application based however the prof is great and explains everything very casually and in detail! it is possible to get a good mark as long as you study a lot.

THE best professor I have ever had! His exams can be difficult but fair - he provides enough support and practice questions for you to be successful. He truly cares about his students and is willing to help clarify any doubts you may have, super easy to talk to!

It was really refreshing to be taught skills instead of just memorizing everything. The exams were challenging but fair given the sample questions he gives every week. Office hours were super useful and busy (for good reason). Great course!!

Souza is amazing! I He honestly lectures so well and is so helpful when it comes to answering questions. He is engaging and encourages the class to speak up. If you put In the work you can definitely do well. His exams are reasonable and he bellcurves if the overall class grades a low. I'm def going to take another class with him again.

Easily the best prof I've ever had! He goes above and beyond course content and helps you develop critical skills and aptitudes. Incredibly helpful; always wants his students to do well. I definitely recommend taking his upper level courses!

Tests heavily application based, memorization not sufficient. Know your stuff!

He genuinely seems like a nice guy who enjoys jokes and cares about student success. The short answers are extremely detail-oriented and sometimes focus on a topic that was barely touched on. Since they're weighted so heavily it doesn't always feel fair that it's not a "choose 1 of the following 2". Also his lectures are totally separate from text

Lemme just say, this man is, hands down, the BEST prof i have ever had. Genuinely LOVES what he lectures about, gives inspirational a NEW DEFINITION and honestly just a great guy. His lectures are engaging and he is such a sweet prof to talk to. Helped me find my passion in uni, and I look forward to his classes. ive taken 3/4 his classes.

His classes are in no way bird courses. But I attended all the lectures and studied my ass off and finished with and A. Hes ALWAYS available to talk and makes you very passionate about the material! I have to take one very heavy condensed course in the summer and theres no one else Id rather be my prof!

to get A+ in his exam you require 130+ IQ period. great prof tho.....

Amazing lecturer and is really engaging in the class. However his exams are a U TURN. Bell curves a lot and there are no assignments. Tas mark according to the rubric assigned by the professor and hard. PSYB55 class is concept based which is why rote memorization won't help. Cares a lot about students progress and is very approachable.

Michael is hands down the best psychology profs at UTSC. His classes are mentally demanding, but extremely interesting and rewarding. His courses are in no way bird courses, but if you put in the time and try to gain a deep understanding of the material an A is achievable. Make use of his practice questions and his office hours.

He's an amazing inspiring prof. I feel like the way he speaks helps you retain knowledge because he knows what he is talking about. The test didn't look bad at first but marks will tell a different story. They aren't clear about what they are looking for in the SA. You need to study for this course and make good notes.

Souza is an amazing prof! Questions on the tests aren't unreasonably hard but they do look for very specific answers. To get a decent grade, you'll have to put in more time understanding the material instead of just memorizing. But after taking his course, I really understood the material and I'll always remember most concepts he taught in class.

Hes very personable, and gives very entertaining lectures. Explains things very well, with lots of relatable examples. Loved this course!

Dr. Souza is my favourite psych prof at UTSC by far! Amazing lectures, and really interesting material. He is hilarious and really makes sure you understand the information. Neither PSYB57 nor PSYB55 are easy courses. Very difficult, but highly rewarding. You only need the textbook for bolded terms and figures. Highly recommended.

Dr. Souza is a literal GEM. I was iffy about taking a course with him bc I heard his courses were hard, but taking his course was the best decision I have ever made. His lectures make you WANT to come to class, they're so fascinating, they really do justice to cognitive psychology in general. I kid you not on the last day I was so sad it was over!

Get ready for cargo shorts and dad jokes. Seriously though, Souza is amazing and very inspiring. Not the easiest class i've ever taken though. Also make sure to read the textbook, around 25% of exam questions will not be covered in lecture.

Great prof. Classes are always interesting and he'll answer any question in really easy to understand ways, making cognitive neuroscience a lot easier than would be expected

Took three classes with Prof Souza and can say I have formed a well-rounded opinion, which is that he's absolutely great and every student should experience it for themselves. After my first exam, I did not like him but everything changed once I learned how to study! Understand rather than memorize concepts and practice concise writing for exams.

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome! There should be more Dr Souzas in the department! One is not enough! LOL He is literally the best at teaching the concepts. The most difficult topics sound easy when he explains them. Lectures are extremely helpful. He is never boring and keeps you engaged during the lectures. Very fair and nice, very caring! Love him!

great prof the way he teaches things is easy to understand but his exams are hell feels like a d level course everything is application even if you have your textbook it wont help you in his exam. Nice guy and very helpful and cool but make sure you study for his class and know everything 100% dont take this class for fun

Great professor! Very passionate and really wants you to succeed, but the exams are hell. All the C level psych courses I've taken have had easier exams than this, but still an amazing prof!

I have taken 2 courses with him. He really is a gem, and needs to be protected at all costs - he explains things so, so well and cares whether or not you understand them. Grading criteria is always clear and weight is fair, tests are also super fair and content is interesting - even if a topic/content is somewhat dull or boring he makes it fun!

Best Prof at UTSC. I've taken every single one of his courses (literally). His lectures are super interesting, and his exams are difficult cz they're all application, but he makes them that so his students actually GAIN something from his class. He's definately not an easy prof and his courses should not be taken lightly, but you won't regret it

Prof Souza is an awesome lecturer. Lectures are really heavy, but compared to the cog neuro textbook, he is a real gem and knows how to boil down things into manageable bits. Memorization will not help. Please go through the lecture objectives and practice questions to do good on short answers. Exams are very hard but curves are generous!

He's great. The content isn't easy and neither are his tests, but the man is amazing. He remembered me 2 years after taking his class even though his lectures have hundreds of students. Just shows you how much he cares about his students. He definitely tries to make neuroscience as relatable as possible. Plus his dad jokes are just glorious.

He is an absolute gem. He really wants you to learn and improve. The course starts off by killing everyone with low grades. DONT GET SCARED THEY GO WAYYYY UP. You learn so much and he is so funny and kind. He clearly knows what he is talking about. I recommend going to office hours with him, you learn a lot.

Love this man. This course has weekly assignments but it is manageable. I highly recommend it. You get skills that are important beyond the classroom. There is quite a bit of group work. He cares about his students. It is super interesting. This is the easiest course I have taken with him (and I have taken many) so don't get scared.

I took PSYB55 completely online for the summer and the grading consisted of only exams. The SAs & MC were somewhat difficult but I realized its best to prepare with the lecture objectives. His grade adjustments were super generous and fair (increasing by 14 & 11 percent for each student's exam). A 90 is easily achievable if you prepare.

This course is hard, but if you read the textbook and ask lots of questions then you should be fine. Don't recommend taking this course for fun, but the contents are really interesting. I don't regret taking this course even though it is hard. He is a great professor, but if you don't like application questions, RUN.

Make sure to review lectures and textbook material. Both are tested on exams.

AMAZING professor, I cannot emphasize this enough. The course breakdown is 3 exams but they are easy if you take good notes for both lectures AND readings. Usually he adds like 10 points to each exam for a curve so it helps boost your grade a bit. Even though its a 3 hour lecture he makes it super interesting, I recommend taking the online version.

Genuinely one of the best professors I have had. He is an amazing speaker, the way he presents his ideas is amazing. He is very engaging and is open to listen to questions and answer them at any point. Easily accessible, he helped me secure a position at a neuroimaging clinic, and thanks to his guidance and recommendations I secured two internships

lectures are very interesting & you can tell he cares about what he is teaching. Test questions can get very specific so its important that you have knowledge of textbook content on top of lecture. tests are open book but it is still difficult to take advantage of this due to the specificity of some questions. overall an amazing and engaging prof

The best prof and course at UTSC! There are weekly discussion assignments where he provides thorough feedback so you keep improving if you take that into consideration. There were two group presentations but the steps were broken down throughout the semester so it made it easy to do. Genuinely cares about his students and wants you to do well :)

Every lecture is like a TEDTalk. This man is incredible. Favorite prof at UTSC by a landslide.

The project is worth more than the final, so doing well on the project will save your grade. Reading checks on the articles are relatively easy to do, and the lecture material is mostly revision if you've taken PSYB57. Dr. Souza explains the lecture material really well, and he gives really clear feedback regarding the project and reading checks.

His lecs are super interactive, and he explains concepts really well by associating them with real-world examples. The material in this course is interesting compared to B55, his exams seem fair, and he boosts grades depending on the amount of improvement a student has made thru the term. Overall, an amazing and inspiring prof!

Incredible lecturer, makes things super interesting. His tests are definitely difficult and the marking is strict, but once you get the hang of what he expects in the short answers, it's not that hard to do well. He grades on a curve as well, which is nice.

Most responsible professors, he always gives detailed feedback on every assignment

He is one of the best lecturers I know! I initially found this course heavy since it's bio-based but his lectures are great. The course concepts are an extension of B57 so I would recommend taking B57 first. There is a lot of textbook content to read and information to consume. The midterms were horrible but the final was great!

Dr. Souza is an amazing lecturer! His lectures are inspirational and make you think about the brain beyond the class. There is the usual amount of PSYB-level course reading content but the textbook was really engaging too. Midterm 1 is the easiest, Midterm 2 is a bit crazy, and the Final is great.

Dr.Souza gives amazing lectures and is very kind. I agree with the reviews about his tests though -- they are challenging! The 1st midterm did not really reflect class content, but the 2nd midterm and final were definitely made to be more fair. Overall, his class was difficult but it was a great experience. PS. don't skip textbook readings!

Prof Souza is a great lecturer, but the exams were all so hard for this class :') I kept bombing them but it's a me problem. There are many specific things you have to remember from textbooks to perform well on exams, such as graphs and terms. I would take a class with him again because he's such a good lecturer, but I probs won't do well :')

One of the hardest courses I've ever taken in my life. I felt like this course was designed for neuro kids. Especially if you are international, you should avoid taking this course!!

Psychology of Gambling is one of the BEST and MOST UNIQUE courses I have taken. Dr. Souza was fantastic as always. The readings, topics, and assignments were all GREAT! My only complaint, as a fan of his lectures and stories, is to have more than just one lecture from him. However, I understand this limitation due to the format of D-level courses.

The lectures are great. Office hours is a MUST to do well in the exams, but again very engaging and informative. I get why people say the exams are tough because the questions really get you to think things through and be able to explain things logically, which cannot be prepped for by solely memorising stuff.

You will have to dedicate 1000+ hours of your life to this course just to barely pass exams. Short answer marked really harshly if you don't use the correct wording they want. Hundreds of textbook pages per week. Great and interesting lectures though!

He is one of the nicest most caring profs ever. He wants the class to succeed. If you don't succeed then he takes it personally (in a good way). He is a tough grader, he sometimes posts online lectures and dedicates class time to discussion which I don't like. His reading checks and exams are HARD. It's normal to fail a few.

he has a really engaging lecturing style and is a welcoming person who won't judge you for asking "dumb" questions. If you are personally interested in psychology/neuroscience you should take this course. I'd recommend against taking it as a breadth requirement because you have to put a lot of effort in and the textbook is dense.

AMAZING PROF! He is inspirational and incredibly educated about the concepts. It is a tough course, tests rely heavily on textbook, experiments discussed, and lectures. Study hard and definetly do the readings. Though challenging, his courses really push you and help you actually learn the material. INCREDIBLE PROF!! WOULD RECOMMEND!

Make sure to participate in class; makes a HUGE difference. Group projects are very heavy, weekly discussions are light. Other than that, Dr. Souza went above and beyond in this course, his passion and inspiration for teaching Gambling is observable. He gives really good and specific feedback so that you can improve in areas that are lacking.

Wonderful and caring professor. Fair grading with participation marks and small written assignments, harder for the group presentations. Clear and detailed feedback. Responsive and welcoming to questions or concerns! This course is content heavy though, 2 scientific articles per class.

He is honestly the most helpful prof I have had at uni so far! His office hours were incredible and he gives a lot of practice tests, anyone saying it was a bad course probably did not engage enough. Yes textbooks are used in the exams but reading the textbook once Is enough, the TA was amazing, she told us what to focus on in the textbook.

The only way you are graded are two midterms and the final exam - no assignments/papers/projects nothing. Tests are 3/4 lecture and 1/4 textbook but don't let that fool you. You can read the textbook for as long as you want and he will test you on the random fun fact footnote from page 385. Prof himself is great but the management sucks

I absolutely LOVE his teaching style. HE IS SO WELL SPOKEN! Most students rate him high SOLELY bc of his character, sweet guy, loves wearing shorts through winter, obvious he loves teaching, super passionate! BUT his exams are DIABOLICAL SO HARD...Not as heavy as B55 since there was a group project. STILL Heavy & memorizing won't get you anywhere!!

Loved the prof. Awesome lectures, he is VERYYYY good at explaining things. Took another course because of his teaching style. But the exams are extremly difficult for all his courses. Most students take him again/like him once again bc of his teaching style. The course itself is content heavy. and memorizing won't get you anywhere.