Wit, Wisdom, and Principles of Psychology

Main Article Content

Kennon A. Lattal

Abstract

Among the lesser-known legacies of the introductory psychology course for which Keller and Schoenfeld (1950) was created is a famous cartoon. It depicts two rats in an operant conditioning chamber standing near a response lever and a food receptacle. One says to the other, “Boy, do we have this guy conditioned. Every time I press the bar down he drops a pellet in.” This article reveals that the cartoon was created for the Jester of Columbia, the campus humor magazine, by two undergraduates who had taken the Keller and Schoenfeld introductory course. In so doing the students experienced the laboratory portion of the course, from which the cartoon derived. Like the cartoon, Keller and Schoenfeld’s textbook offered wisdom about the nature of beha- vior that has persisted because of its insightfulness and timelessness.

Article Details

How to Cite
Lattal, K. A. (2020). Wit, Wisdom, and Principles of Psychology. Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis, 46(1). https://doi.org/10.5514/rmac.v46.i1.76972