User`s guide
Preface
The goal of developing the E-Prime suite of applications is to provide a common, standardized,
precise, computer research language for psychology that can be used on today's technologically
advanced computers. The E-Prime suite is designed to allow rapid development of experiments
that can be run with precision on computers around the world. A common computer language
enables researchers in different universities to communicate and share experimental procedures
and data. The system must be flexible enough to allow most psychological research that can be
run on computers to be implemented. It must also provide precision for accurate data analysis,
and even more important, internal auditing to enable the researcher to report the true precision of
the experiment. It is beneficial for the research community to have a dedicated staff of experts
interpreting and harnessing the rapidly changing computer environments to allow precision
experimentation on standard, commercial machines. The E-Prime suite was designed to be able
to be learned rapidly given the constraints of precision and flexibility of experimental procedures.
E-Prime is designed to match the way an experienced investigator structures and organizes an
experimental paradigm. There are now thousands of investigators that use E-Prime for research
on a daily basis to more effectively do high quality computer based experimental research.
Walter Schneider
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Acknowledgements
The development of E-Prime has involved over twenty person years of effort. Many people have
contributed to the effort that has involved designing, running and testing nearly a million lines of
code. The initial design team included Walter Schneider, Anthony Zuccolotto and Brandon
Cernicky of Psychology Software Tools, Inc. and Jonathan Cohen, Brian MacWhinney and
Jefferson Provost, creators of PsyScope. The lead project manager was Anthony Zuccolotto
until the last year, when Brandon Cernicky assumed that role. The lead programmer and
manager of the project was Brandon Cernicky, who was in charge of all aspects of the Version
1.0 software development effort. Specific project programmers include Anthony Zuccolotto (E-
Run); Caroline Pierce (E-Merge, E-DataAid, E-Recovery); Jefferson Provost (E-Run and internal
factor architecture). The documentation management effort was led by Amy Eschman and
Valerie Maciejczyk. James St. James, Brian MacWhinney, Anthony Zuccolotto, and Walter
Schneider provided editorial assistance and drafted sections of the manual. Copy editing was
headed by Amy Eschman and Valerie Maciejczyk, assisted by Debbie Gilkey, Sara Burgess,
Kimberly Rodgers, Jennifer Gliptis, and Gary Caldwell. Version 1.0 testing involved Brandon
Cernicky, Anthony Zuccolotto, Amy Eschman, Debbie Gilkey, Sara Burgess, Jennifer Gliptis, and
Gary Caldwell. Sample experiments and Help files were created by Debbie Gilkey, Kimberly
Rodgers, Amy Eschman, Sara Burgess, and Brandon Cernicky. During the lengthy Beta
Program, Amy Eschman, Debbie Gilkey, Sara Burgess, Brandon Cernicky, and Anthony
Zuccolotto provided technical consulting and dealt with thousands of beta reports. Government
grant support in the form of SBIR grants from the National Science Foundation (Grant #III-
9261416 and DMI-9405202) and the National Institutes of Health (Grant #1R43 MH5819-01A1
and 2R44mh56819-02) covered significant research on code infrastructure, timing, and precision
testing. Partial support came from grants provided by the Office of Naval Research (Grant
#N0014-96C-0110) and the National Institutes of Health- NIMH (Grant #1R43 MH58504-01 and
2R44 MH58504-02) for research on biological extensions to the system.
Reference to E-Prime in Scientific Publications
It is important to describe the tools used to collect data in scientific reports. We request you cite
this book in your methods section to inform investigators regarding the technical specifications of
E-Prime when used in your research.
Schneider, W., Eschman, A., & Zuccolotto, A. (2002) E-Prime User’s Guide. Pittsburgh:
Psychology Software Tools Inc.
Schneider, W., Eschman, A., & Zuccolotto, A. (2002) E-Prime Reference Guide. Pittsburgh:
Psychology Software Tools Inc.