Experiment Run Without the Key: E-Prime 2 & 3

[Darla]

Hello,

I know that a person can run an e-prime task without using the license key (but definitely needs it for programming an experiment). However, I have been told my users of E-Prime 2 that running a task without using the license key is risky as the outputs may not be as accurate. Is this true? And if so, is this something specific to E-Prime 2 or is it still the case for E-Prime 3 as well? Essentially I am asking whether you would advise me to use the license key at all times when using E-Prime in any manner?

Courtney

[David McFarlane]

Courtney,

Who told you that?? I have never heard such a thing, and it would be a
very poor design of E-Prime if true. For one thing, how could you run
several subjects at once if you needed the hardware key for each subject
running station? We regularly run subjects on stations that do not have
hardware keys installed, though I don't think that we have ever actually
tested their timing with and without a hardware key.

You might also ask PST Support directly, and then write back here with
their response. Ultimately, you could test this yourself with either an
oscilloscope or a Black Box Toolkit.

-- David McFarlane