Multiple Keyboards, One E-prime Host PC

[Eric G.]

Hello, I am programming a study in which two participants will view a display generated by e-prime 3.0. I need to record responses from both participants using separate input devices and be able to tell who is pressing what. I had hoped to use two keyboards, but e-prime seems to prevent adding a second keyboard as a device. I would appreciate any suggestions. Ideally, I would like to avoid acquiring additional input devices (e.g., game pads). Thanks.

Perhaps worth noting: I have one chronos device, but only have 1 to use, not two.

[David McFarlane]

Yes, E-Prime allows only one instance of the Keyboard Device; similarly,
it allows only one instance of the Mouse Device. Nevertheless, you may
add any number of physical keyboards and mice, and E-Prime will accept
input from any and all of them, although it will not know what input
came from which keyboard or mouse -- I think that is an intended
limitation of Windows, not E-Prime.

For multiple keyboards, you might just give each subject a different set
of response keys to use (although of course if you need them to enter
text, that will not solve your problem).

---------------
David McFarlane
E-Prime® 2.0 training online:
psychology.msu.edu/workshop-and-additional-course/e-prime-introduction-to-programming-computerized-behavioral-tasks
Twitter: @EPrimeMaster (twitter.com/EPrimeMaster)

[Eric G.]

David, thank you for the reply! I believe you are correct, it does seem to be Windows that is causing the issue. The suggestion of using different keys for each participant is a good one. Labels will work to effectively re-bind the keys to what I need them to represent. Paired with a script to collect and timestamp multiple responses, that works perfectly. Thanks.