Mission Statement
Psychology Software Tools, Inc. was founded with the vision of creating innovative and affordable technologies and solutions which improve the efficacy of human behavioral research, assessment, and education. Our goal is to consistently provide products and services to our customers which increase their productivity, effectiveness, and confidence in addressing the challenges they face in these diverse disciplines.
To realize this vision, we emphasize a focus on research and development activities, employee expertise, quality, and customer satisfaction.
Company History
Psychology Software Tools, Inc. (PST) was founded by esteemed behavioral research scientist Walter Schneider, PhD and was incorporated in 1987. Anthony Zuccolotto joined the company in 1989 as the lead system architect and has been with the company ever since, serving as President and Chief Executive Officer since 2005.
Standardized Tools for Computerized Behavioral Research
The company’s first commercial product was MEL-Micro Experimental Laboratory followed by MEL Professional in 1995, a DOS-based application for computerized behavioral research. MEL Professional was eventually installed at over 4,000 sites around the world and became a standard tool within the behavioral research community. In 2001, E-Prime® was released as the successor to MEL Professional. While they accomplish the same end user goals (creation of computerized experiments), E-Prime is able to run in a Windows environment as opposed to DOS. E-Prime is the flagship product of PST and since its release has been the primary stimulus presentation system integrated into several third party software/hardware products in specialized disciplines including IFIS-SA/Eloquence from Invivo Corp; Net Station from Electrical Geodesics Inc. and Tobii Eye Tracker from Tobii Technology.
Educating the Next Generation of Psychologists and Researchers
MEL Lab: Experiments in Perception, Cognition, Social Psychology, and Human Factors was introduced in 1990. The college level workbook and DOS program introduced undergraduate psychology students to computerized experiments. In its 13-year life cycle, MEL Lab gave over 56,000 students first-hand experience as the subject and the researcher in 28 classic psychology experiments. In 2003, PST moved to a Windows-based product for undergraduate psychology education: PsychMate®. Students participate in classic and current experiments and see immediate plots and tables of real data. PsychMate is a client-server application using the Internet for data submission and retrieval.
Peering into the Human Brain and Beyond
In 1995, PST became interested in the area of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). That year we began development of the Integrated Functional Imaging System (IFIS). The goal of IFIS was to build software and hardware tools to allow researchers to present stimuli within the fMRI magnet and collect data. Initial installation included over a dozen of the leading fMRI research institutions. In August 2000, MRI Devices Corporation (MRIDC), now Invivo Corporation (http://invivocorp.com/), purchased the IFIS-SA product from Psychology Software Tools, Inc., and formed an industrial partnership. Under that partnership, Invivo builds and distributes the hardware and Psychology Software Tools, Inc. provides ongoing software development expertise. In 2003, PST launched the BrainLogics® branded product line to provide core software and hardware components for effective functional imaging research. That product line included a Fiber Optic Button Response System, an MRI Digital Projection System, an MRI Simulator, and BrainVoyager software. The BrainLogics® product line expanded and grew to be used in new and different modalities, including eye tracking, virtual reality, and physiological monitoring. The result of this growth was the removal of the BrainLogics® tag to reflect moving into new areas of research and to allow our customers to identify our products for their use.
Ongoing Commitment to Improvement and Growth
We are committed to improving our products and continuing to strive to produce the most advanced research and assessment tools needed in the field of psychology by expanding our areas of interest to include the field of functional imaging, eye tracking, cognitive assessment, and virtual reality.
Psychology Software Tools is Certified to Requirements of ISO 13485:2016 for our quality management system related to the design, production, assembly, installation and servicing of psychological assessment tools and ISO 9001:2015 for the design, development, production, assembly, installation and servicing of products and tools for psychology research, assessment, and education.