User`s guide

E-Prime User’s Guide
Chapter 2: Using E-Studio
Page 17
Why doesn’t E-Prime simply log everything? Well it could, and technically, if Data Logging is set
to Standard on every object in the experiment, it would. However, logging everything greatly
expands the data that is stored in an experiment and, more seriously, increases the number of
variables to go through when analyzing an experiment. Note, if we logged every property of
every object in a typical experiment, this could require logging several hundred variables per trial.
The vast majority of these variables will never be examined (e.g., the response of hitting the
spacebar to advance the instruction display). The default settings in E-Prime log all of the design
variables (specified in List objects) and require the user to specify logging on all objects that
collect critical data.
It is the experimenter’s responsibility to set the logging option for each critical object so the data
will be logged for analysis. This is done easily by setting the logging option for each object in the
experiment using the Duration/Input tab in the Property pages or using the Logging tab to
explicitly select the properties to be logged.
2.2.7 Step 1.7: Run and verify the core experiment
At this point, the minimalist core of the experiment is specified. It is a good idea to run the
experiment and see if it works as intended. Recall the experimental procedure abstract: The
subject will be presented with a fixation (+) displayed in the center of the screen for one
second. Then a probe display will present a letter string stimulus in the center of the screen
for up to 2 seconds. What should we expect the first two trials to look like? Be able to draw out
the displays the subject would see. In this case, expect to see two trials, with the first presenting
a fixation “+” for one second and then the word “cat” for 2 seconds or until a response is entered.
Then the “+” is presented again, and the second stimulus “jop” is displayed until a response.
When running the experiment, verify that the stimulus is immediately removed when a response
is entered. If no response is entered, the stimulus should be displayed for 2 seconds. Expect to
see displays like the following:
+ cat jop++ cat jop+