F. S. Keller’s “schedules of reinforcement” supplement to Keller and Schoenfeld (1950)

Abstract

Fred Keller prepared two supplements for students to use in con- junction with Keller and Schoenfeld (1950), “Matters of History” and “Schedules of Reinforcement.” The latter was found in a to-be-discar - ded file of Murray Sidman’s reprints and other items after his death in May, 2019. After presenting evidence concerning the authorship of the supplement, the relation of the contents to the article to the teaching of behavior analysis to introductory psychology students in the course for which the Keller and Schoenfeld textbook was designed are dis- cussed. The text is a remarkable example of the teaching of scientific principles and research methods - especially group and single-subject designs - because it is so rich with data derived from real experiments. It offered to introductory students facts and no fiction. It also is exem - plary in its attention to relating scientific concepts to daily experience, a critical feature of scientific material directed to such introductory- level students.