User`s guide

E-Prime User’s Guide
Chapter 2: Using E-Studio
Page 19
implementing the specified feature of the lexical decision experiment on a computer using E-
Prime. We recommend working through the Getting Started Guide for creating an E-Prime
experiment prior to performing Stage 1. A completed version of the experiment at each stage
described in this chapter is included with the installation (default installation is C:\My
Experiments\Tutorials\Using E-Studio Stages). However, rather than going directly to the
completed version, we recommend going through each step sequentially, reading how to do the
step, performing the step in E-Prime, and verifying that the displays look as intended. Note, in
the section above, we simplified some of the displays to highlight the core concepts. In this
section, we will walk through the full E-Prime graphical displays to show where the information is
located and how to perform each stage.
2.3.1 Perform Step 1.1: Provide an operational
specification of the base experiment
This was done above, and amounts to writing the abstract for the experimental procedure. Below
is the abstract again, with bold words, indicating those aspects of the experimental specification
that set specific properties for the specification of the experiment using E-Prime:
The experiment will measure the time to make a lexical decision. The independent
variable is whether a letter string is a word or non-word. The stimuli will be text
strings of words and non-words, presented in random order in black text on a white
background. The subject will be presented with a fixation (+) displayed in the
center of the screen for 1 second. Then a probe display will present a letter string
stimulus in the center of the screen for up to 2 seconds. The stimulus display will
terminate when the subject responds. Subjects are to respond as quickly as
possible as to whether the stimulus was a word or a non-word by pressing the “1” or
“2” key respectively. The dependent measures are the response (i.e., key pressed),
response time, and response accuracy of the probe display.
2.3.2 Perform Step 1.2: Create a folder for the
experiment and load E-Studio
2.3.2.1 Create a folder for experiment
A place to develop the experiment on the computer is now necessary. This involves creating a
folder or directory for the experiment. For this experiment, create a "Lexical Decision" folder
under the C:\My Experiments directory on the computer in which the experiment is being
implemented. This is done using Microsoft Explorer’s File menu.