E-Prime alternatives?

By dan.blanchard at Tue, Oct 14 2008 10:15am |

Does anyone know of any decent software for OS X that can be used as an alternative to E-Prime for psycholinguistic experiments? In our lab we currently use E-Prime via Boot Camp, but it is definitely not the most user-friendly software in the world, and has some rather annoying quirks. It seems like just the kind of software that could be made better by using a Mac programming philosophy.

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Wed, 2008-10-15 00:18 — chl

Python for psychophysics

You might be interested in alternative open-source solutions, based on Python. Have a look at VisionEgg or PsychoPy, for example. More generally, using Python together with Pygame let you do everything you want, provided you take time to familiarize with Python scripting. Pygame relies on SDL and consists in a set of wrapper functions and add-ons utilities. However, if you' re seeking precise timing of your trial presentation or response records, you may have to check them carefully. Some colleagues of mine have built psychophysics experiments using this approach, and they all reported good performance in case of visual displays and sound delivering.

Fri, 2008-10-17 15:40 — rogilmore

Matlab + Psychophysics Toolbox

The open source Psychophysics Toolbox (www.psychtoolbox.org) was developed originally for use in experiments involving visual psychophysics, but it can be used for auditory presentation, as well. It also runs under Windows XP, Vista, and there is an alpha version for Linux. Matlab itself is pricey but powerful.