Experience-sampling procedures are a set of empirical methods that document people's thoughts, feelings, and actions on multiple occasions outside the walls of a laboratory. To facilitate this type of research, the PI developed ESP (Experience Sampling Program), a popular, freely distributable, palmtop software package for experimental research. Currently, ESP 2.0 runs on two platforms, PalmOS and Windows CE (now called Pocket PC). The PI will upgrade ESP to run on current versions of PalmOS, and to enhance ESP with new features requested by its many users. This project will extend ESP by adding these features, as well as a new PC-based tool - the ESP Desktop - for implementing experiments more efficiently.
The improvements to ESP will have scientific, educational, and applied impacts. First, these improvements will permit researchers to continue using this free software package, for which no commercial equivalent exists. Second, ESP will remain so easy to configure that undergraduate research assistants can use it, facilitating student collaboration in research, and enhancing science education in the classroom and lab. Finally, experience-sampling procedures are becoming increasingly popular in the study of psychopathology and health-related problems, as well as the efficacy of treatments for such problems. The proposed modifications to ESP will allow researchers to easily avail themselves of this method.
