Thinking Grid Statistics

Provides comprehensive tools for conducting research using the Thinking Grid framework, a psychological measurement approach for understanding the stream of thought. Includes functions for generating Qualtrics surveys with the thinking grid, processing survey responses, calculating quadrant depths, and creating various visualization types including heatmaps, animations, and statistical plots. See Irving, Z. C., Murray, S., Kuvar, V., Urena, M., and Mills, C. (2025) "Consciousness, Just in Time: Fluctuations in the Stream of Consciousness during Tasks and Rest" (manuscript under review, draft available from [email protected]).

ThinkingGrid

An R package for analyzing data from "Thinking Grid" style experiments. This package provides functions to create Qualtrics surveys, extract and analyze data, and visualize effects related to the Thinking Grid.

Installation

Step 0. Install the package using R.

From CRAN (Recommended)

Open an R session, and run the following:

install.packages("ThinkingGrid")

devtools::install_github("a-kulkarn/qualtrics-thinkgrid", subdir = "ThinkingGrid")

### Step 1. Install python dependencies.
This package uses [reticulate](https://rstudio.github.io/reticulate/) to pass data
from a python backend into **R**. 

#### (Optional) Installing python.
If you do not have Python, run

library(ThinkingGrid) reticulate::install_python(version = "3.13:latest")

_WARNING:_ This package requires Python 3.11 or higher.


## Usage

The exposed functions in this package are listed by:

getNamespaceExports("ThinkingGrid")

Currently, the package provides functions to:
- Create a Qualtrics survey for a Thinking Grid experiment ```generate_survey()```
- Extract data from a Qualtrics survey ```read_qualtrics_data()```
- Add depths into each of the four quadrants of the Thinking Grid ```add_depths()```
- Visualize graphs in their respective quadrants of the Thinking Grid ```thinkgrid_quadrant_plot()```
- Visualize proportion of responses across various cross-sections of the Thinking Grid ```plot_tg()```
- Create a GIF showing how proportions change across the Thinking Grid over time (or conditions)```create_tg_animation()```

Vignettes are available to help you get started with the package. You can access them by running:
```r
browseVignettes("ThinkingGrid")

The package has the following vignettes:

• generate_survey_read_data: A walkthrough of how to generate a Qualtrics survey and read the data back into R.
• plot_2x2: A walkthrough of how to visualize the Thinking Grid data in a 2x2 plot and how to extract depths from the quadrants.
• plot_tg: A walkthrough of how to visualize proportions of responses across the Thinking Grid and also how to create an animation of the proportions changing over time or conditions.

One can access the inline documentation in the usual way. For example:

?install_thinkgrid

Troubleshooting

I tried installing the developer version of this package, but got this error message:

> devtools::install_github("a-kulkarn/qualtrics-thinkgrid", subdir = "ThinkingGrid")

Error: Failed to install 'unknown package' from GitHub:
  HTTP error 401.
  Bad credentials

  Rate limit remaining: X/60
  Rate limit reset at: SOME_TIMESTAMP

We have observed that a stale value for GITHUB_PAT can cause this problem. Removing this variable from your environment sometimes fixes the issue. Please refer to troubleshooting for install_github.