Presentation

Presentation is a Windows software application for conducting psychological, cognitive, and neurobehavioral experiments. It was developed by Neurobehavioral Systems, Inc. and first released in 2003. The product is intended for research environments in which investigators need to create controlled experimental scenarios, present visual and auditory stimuli, collect responses, and coordinate external measurement or imaging equipment. A central characteristic of Presentation is its emphasis on temporal precision. The software is designed to control the timing of stimulus delivery at sub-millisecond accuracy, an important requirement for experiments involving reaction times, sensory processing, event-related brain activity, and other time-sensitive behavioral or neuroscience measurements. It can accept responses from a broad range of input devices and can communicate with external systems through interfaces including parallel ports, serial connections, TCP/IP, and National Instruments data-acquisition hardware. These capabilities allow it to work alongside response boxes, eye trackers, functional magnetic resonance imaging equipment, and other brain-imaging or physiological research systems. Researchers define experiments using Presentation's own scripting environment. Scenario Description Language, or SDL, describes the stimuli and trial structures that make up an experiment. It supports compile-time logic and can be used to generate or randomize experimental materials. Program Control Language, or PCL, provides procedural control over an experiment and includes constructs such as loops, conditional statements, subroutines, and strong type checking. The development environment includes code-completion support. Presentation also provides a Python module, allowing researchers to control experiments with Python and to perform tasks that can otherwise be handled through PCL. The software supports both auditory and visual stimulus creation and presentation. It also supports Unicode through UTF-8, allowing experiments and stimulus materials to use a broad range of written languages. Hardware support has included Microsoft Kinect for Windows in addition to more specialized laboratory devices. Presentation is primarily used by universities and research laboratories. Documented research applications include studies of perception, memory, aesthetics, spatial cognition, stereoscopic depth, auditory feedback during speech, contagious yawning, and visual indeterminacy. The product has been described as having more than 10,000 users worldwide, indicating a substantial international academic and scientific user base, although it is a specialized research tool rather than a mass-market software brand. Its positioning is centered on experimental control, timing accuracy, flexible scripting, and integration with behavioral and neuroimaging equipment.

Presentation emerged as a dedicated software tool for psychological and neurobehavioral experimentation and was first released in 2003 by Neurobehavioral Systems, Inc. Its design addressed a recurring problem in laboratory research: experiments often require tightly controlled timing, repeatable trial logic, specialized response inputs, and communication with external scientific instruments. Rather than functioning as a general presentation or slideshow application, Presentation was built around the demands of experimental psychology and neuroscience. The software's core model separates the description of experimental materials and trial structures from the procedural control of an experiment. Scenario Description Language provides a way to define stimuli and trials, including logic for generating or randomizing scenarios. Program Control Language adds procedural capabilities, including variables, loops, conditions, and subroutines, enabling researchers to control how an experiment proceeds in response to timing and participant behavior. The editor's type checking and code-completion features are intended to make laboratory scripts more explicit and manageable. Presentation's technical role extends beyond stimulus delivery. It can collect responses from many kinds of input devices and communicate with external equipment through parallel-port, serial, TCP/IP, and National Instruments data-acquisition interfaces. This makes it suitable for experiments that must synchronize visual or auditory events with response devices, eye trackers, functional MRI systems, and other brain-imaging or measurement equipment. The product has also supported Microsoft Kinect for Windows and Unicode text through UTF-8. A Python module later provided an additional programming route. Researchers can use Python to control Presentation and carry out functions that are also available through PCL, giving laboratories a familiar general-purpose language alongside the product's proprietary scripting tools. The software has been used in university and laboratory research across multiple countries. Reported application areas include perception, memory, spatial cognition, auditory speech feedback, visual interpretation, stereoscopic depth, contagious yawning, and aesthetic responses to indeterminate art. Presentation has been reported to have more than 10,000 users worldwide. Its historical role is therefore that of a specialized infrastructure product for behavioral and cognitive neuroscience research, with value concentrated in timing reliability, experimental flexibility, and compatibility with laboratory hardware rather than consumer-facing features.

1. 2003First release

   Neurobehavioral Systems, Inc. first released Presentation as Windows software for conducting psychological and neurobehavioral experiments.

   Source

A specialized Windows research platform for precise stimulus presentation, response collection, experiment scripting, and synchronization with behavioral, physiological, and neuroimaging equipment.

• PresentationPsychological and neurobehavioral experiment software2003

  The main Windows application provides tools for creating and presenting auditory and visual stimuli, structuring trials, collecting participant responses, and coordinating communications with laboratory equipment. It is designed for experiments that require highly controlled timing and repeatable execution. Supported interfaces include parallel port, serial, TCP/IP, and National Instruments data-acquisition connections, enabling integration with response devices, eye trackers, fMRI systems, and other research hardware. The software also supports Unicode through UTF-8 and has included Microsoft Kinect for Windows support.

• Scenario Description Language (SDL)Experiment-definition language

  SDL is Presentation's language for describing stimuli, trials, and other structural elements of an experiment. It can use compile-time logic to generate or randomize experimental scenarios, helping researchers create repeatable but varied trial sequences.

• Program Control Language (PCL)Experiment-control language

  PCL is Presentation's procedural scripting language. It is influenced by C and Basic and provides strong type checking, loops, conditional logic, and subroutines. Researchers can use it with objects defined in SDL or independently to create, manipulate, and present experimental stimuli.

• Presentation Python modulePython integration

  The Python module allows researchers to control Presentation experiments using Python rather than, or alongside, PCL. It gives laboratories an alternative scripting interface while retaining access to the experiment-control capabilities provided by the platform.

1. Presentation (software)
2. Neurobehavioral Systems