posting

[Leisha]

I work for a small, nonprofit institute. It is difficult for us to afford
high-level software like E-Prime, but when it's necessary, we can
sometimes write it into a grant proposal. Unfortunately, many of our
proposals are only partially funded. It's a difficult balancing act, and
we can only hope for better scientific funding in future and meanwhile
continue to work hard to acquire what we need to continue our important
research.

I think that the programmers at E-Prime are probably in much the same
position as I am as a programmer this small institute.

Since we started using E-Prime we have received several requests for the
scripts we've written. It's no problem for our friends & colleagues to
access our scripts for the purpose of criticism & review (although it
could be easier). When one colleague wished to go further, actually using
our script to obtain more data for our project, he bought a site license
for $100. This was good for our institute, allowing us to obtain more
data. We also use site licenses to run experiments in more than one local
lab simultaneously.

I've found many E-Prime scripts available on-line from various institutes,
and they've been helpful to me in developing experiments for our
investigators.

Over all, the arrangement we have now is working. Let's hope that more
funding comes pouring into scientific research from all directions,
allowing us all to breathe a little freer, loosen our belts, and share our
projects more easily.

Leisha Wharfield
Decision Research
Eugene, Oregon, USA


macw at mac.com wrote:
> Paul et al.,
>      Don't worry, as list maintainer, I have no intention of applying=20

> any content censorship here.	Your point about free run-time licenses=20

> or most accessible run-time usage is an interesting one.  PST does
have=20=
>
> site-based run-time licenses for separate sites priced at $100, but I=20

> am guessing you think that is too high.  Or are you concerned that it=20

> is clunky in some other way?	When ClassMate becomes available
(pretty=20=
>
> soon, I believe) it will have similar functionality at a reduced
price.=20=
>
>   Perhaps that will address your needs in part. You seem to be
pushing=20=
>
> for "royalty free runtime licensing" but you think that the ability
to=20=
>
> compile executables would be even nicer.   I suppose there are some
> technical issues in regard to the latter that make it tough.
>     My own point of view on this, as designer and financial supporter
of=20=
>
> first PsyScope and later E-Prime, is that software development is a=20
> significant expense, particularly in a small niche market such as=20
> Experimental Psychology.  Having a sophisticated system like E-Prime
is=20=
>
> a positive for the field. Having even more powerful systems (check
out=20=
>
> the list of features for E-Prime 2.0) would be even nicer.  At the
same=20=
>
> time, we always want to make sure that marketing restrictions do not=20
> impede the advance of research and creativity.
>     Regarding ideas such as using MatLab as a replacement for
E-Prime,=20=
>
> and the previous message about just programming stuff in Basic, I
guess=20=
>
> this always depends on the programming skills of the individual, the=20
> relative simplicity of the experiment, the amount of time one wants
to=20=
>
> invest, and the level of error and other inaccuracies you are willing=20

> to tolerate.
>     In any case, I think it is fine to post discussions of
alternatives=20=
>
> to this list.  If you browse through journals such as BRMIC, you will=20

> occasionally find discussion of new programming systems and the like=20
> there too.
>
> --Brian MacWhinney, CMU
>
> On Jan 16, 2005, at 5:47 PM, Paul Gr wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm not sure if it appropriate to discuss non-eprime issues in this=20

> > mailing list, but I think you=92re right when you say that deploying =

> or=20
> > distributing runtime versions of EPrime scripts may be difficult or=20

> > even impossible. I also realize that software developing companies=20
> > such as PST require people buying their products to be able to=20
> > continue their business. I really hope that PST will offer royalty=20
> > free runtime licences in the near future, so EPrime users are not=20
> > restricted anymore to run their scripts at their own sites. Or even=20

> > better: being able to create standalone exe-versions of scripts.
> >
> > However, beside the licensing strategy, there are also some
technical=20=
>
> > issues that require attention. For instance, the current version of=20

> > EPrime uses special drivers to handle response devices. These
drivers=20=
>
> > are required for optimal response processing. So, even if there was
a=20=
>
> > possibility to create standalone executables, you would still have
to=20=
>
> > deploy a proper runtime environment. (And don=92t forget DirectX=85, =

> which=20
> > is a =91must have=92 for this type of application.)
> >
> > As far as I know, there are no commercially available alternatives,=20

> > which don=92t have the same deployment issues as EPrime. So, for
real=20=
>
> > standalone executables, you would have to get into	a suitable=20
> > programming environment and enter the low-level world of WIN32, GDI=20

> > and DirectX APIs. I know of some projects at other universities,
where=20=
>
> > colleagues are developing their own =91time critical=92 software=20
> > libraries. However, compared to using EPrime and the like, you
really=20=
>
> > require in-depth expertise and lots of time=85
> >
> > Let=92s hope PST (and other=92s) come up with a customer-friendly =
> solution=20
> > for this problem. If not, then I expect some kind of open source=20
> > project to arise within a year or so.
> >
> > Best,
> > Paul
> >
> > P.S.: about matlab and alternatives=85 beside accurate response=20
> > measurement, you would also require accurate stimulus delivery. Not=20

> > sure if matlab will pass that test.
> >
> >
> >> From: yoav Bar-Anan <baranan at post.tau.ac.il>
> >> To: eprime at mail.talkbank.org
> >> Subject: response duration, but not with EPrime
> >> Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2005 15:39:05 +0200
> >>
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> I often prefer not to use E-Prime for programming experiments,=20
> >> because a simple executable written in C++, VB or even HTML, is=20
> >> easier to deploy. However, when an experiment requires=20
> >> response-duration recording and accurate timing of events, I
always=20=
>
> >> resort to E-Prime, because I know they invested much effort in=20
> >> accuracy.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> I wonder whether anyone can suggest other environments which offer=20

> >> accurate timing (or tools that can easily produce accurate timing)=20

> >> that can be ran on most computers without installing anything but
the=20=
>
> >> experiment file.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On the same note: What do you think about Matlab as an alternative=20

> >> for E-Prime?
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Thank you,
> >>
> >> Yoav
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Nooit ongewenste berichten ontvangen: gebruik MSN Messenger=20
> > http://messenger.msn.nl/
> >
> >
>
>
>