ds4psy 1.3.0

Data Science for Psychologists (ds4psy)

All datasets and functions required for the examples and exercises of the books Data Science for Psychologists and Introduction to Data Science (by Hansjoerg Neth, Konstanz University, 2026), freely available at https://hneth-ds4psy.share.connect.posit.cloud/ and https://hneth-i2ds.share.connect.posit.cloud/.

These books and corresponding courses introduce principles and methods of data science to students of psychology and other biological or social sciences.
The R package ds4psy primarily provides datasets, but also functions for data generation and manipulation (e.g., of text and time data) and graphics that are used in the book and its exercises.
All functions included in ds4psy are designed to be explicit and instructive, rather than efficient or elegant.

Overview

The books and courses Data Science for Psychologists include the following resources:

• The textbook Data Science for Psychologists is hosted at https://hneth-ds4psy.share.connect.posit.cloud/.
• The textbook Introduction to Data Science is hosted at https://hneth-i2ds.share.connect.posit.cloud/.
• The most recent release of ds4psy (1.3.0) is available on CRAN: https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=ds4psy.
• The current development version of ds4psy (1.3.0.9001+) is hosted at https://github.com/hneth/ds4psy/.

---

ds4psy 1.3.0

Release of ds4psy (1.3.0) on CRAN
adds new data and updates links to online resources. [2026-04-22]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• Add new i2ds_survey data ($N=101$ participants, $119$ variables)

Minor changes

• Change in hosting service of corresponding textbooks (from https://bookdown.org to https://connect.posit.cloud/hneth/):

  • Textbooks were originally hosted at https://bookdown.org (up to 2026-01-15).
    Static versions are still available at https://bookdown.org/hneth/ds4psy/ and https://bookdown.org/hneth/i2ds/, but these are no longer updated.
  • Future versions are hosted at https://connect.posit.cloud/hneth/. Visit
    https://hneth-ds4psy.share.connect.posit.cloud/ and
    https://hneth-i2ds.share.connect.posit.cloud/ for the most recent versions.

Details

• Updated URLs (in description, citation, and README) to reflect change in book hosting service

The current development version of ds4psy is available at https://github.com/hneth/ds4psy/.

Versions of ds4psy published on on CRAN:

---

ds4psy 1.2.0

Release of ds4psy (1.2.0) on CRAN
adds new data and fixes some bugs. [2025-11-05]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• Add new i2ds_survey data ($N=60$ participants, $116$ variables)

Minor changes

• Fix bugs in i2ds_survey data:
  • Add variable names to art preference tasks
  • Reverse scale in ranking of food items (e.g., apple, ..., mud)
  • Add some session information (referrer, date, duration)

Details

• Bug fix: replace size by linewidth arguments in ggplot2 functions

• Improve documentation:

  • Enumerate and re-arrange variables in i2ds_survey data
  • Update online documentation

---

ds4psy 1.1.0

Release of ds4psy (1.1.0) on CRAN
adds functionality, provides new data, and fixes some bugs. [2025-09-13]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• add i2ds_survey data (36 participants/rows, 112 variables)
• add plot_circ_points() function

Minor changes

• change gender in exp_num_dt into a binary variable (with values "female" vs. "not female")
• add deg2rad() and rad2deg() conversion functions

Details

• new logo

---

ds4psy 1.0.0

Release of ds4psy (1.0.0) on CRAN fixes some bugs,
but mostly acknowledges the package's stable state. [2023-09-15]

Changes since last release:

Minor changes

• bug fix: Update time zones

Details

• update status badges
• update URLs

---

ds4psy 0.9.0

Release of ds4psy (0.9.0) on CRAN adds functionality, implements minor changes, and fixes some bugs. [2022-10-20]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• add base2dec() and dec2base() functions for converting numerals into non-decimal notations, and back.
• add chars_to_text() and text_to_chars() functions for converting character vectors into text, and back.

Minor changes

• add rseed argument to map_text_regex() and plot_chars() for reproducible results.
• add collapse_chars() as a wrapper around paste() with a collapse argument.
• rearrange contents (by creating dedicated utility files).

Details

• fix minor bugs.
• add Zenodo doi 10.5281/zenodo.7229812 for citations.

---

ds4psy 0.8.0

Release of ds4psy (0.8.0) on CRAN
adds functionality, increases modularity, and fixes some bugs. [2022-04-08]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• add a invert_rules() function (for decoding encoded messages by inverting the rules used for encoding).
• add a words_to_text() function as the inverse of text_to_words().
• add a zodiac() function (with multiple outputs formats and options for redefining date boundaries).

Minor changes

• add table9 as a variant of tidyr::table2 as a 3-dimensional array (xtabs).
• improved capitalize() to also work for character vectors (i.e., setting the case of each element to upper- or lowercase).

Details

• fix minor bugs.

---

ds4psy 0.7.0

Release of ds4psy (0.7.0) on CRAN
adds functionality, increases modularity, and fixes a bug in text data. [2021-05-12]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• Breaking change: The function read_ascii() was split into 2\ parts (to enable independent access to their functionality):

  1. A new read_ascii() version reads text (from file or user input) into a character string;
  2. A new map_text_coord() function converts a text string into a table of individual characters (with x/y-coordinates).

• Added plot_chars() for plotting characters of text and visualizing pattern matches (specified as regular expressions) by highlighting labels (color/angle) or background tiles (color). The function uses 2\ auxiliary functions:

  1. map_text_regex() adds pattern matching options (for colors and angles) to map_text_coord().
  2. plot_charmap() plots character maps as text and tile plots (with aesthetics for labels and tiles).

• Added count_chars_words() for counting the frequency of both characters and words in text strings.

Minor changes

• add plot_mar argument to theme_empty()
• add functionality to plot_text() (but see plot_chars())
• add utility functions for locating, identifying, and assigning vectors (of color/angle maps) to text strings matching a pattern
• add text_to_chars() and related functions for converting character strings (e.g., text to characters, preserving spaces)
• add utility functions for counting the frequency of characters and words in text strings
• rename is_vector() to is_vect() as an is_vector() function is defined by the purrr package

Details

• signal deprecation status in plot_text()
• bug fix: remove marked UTF-8 strings from Trumpisms

The current development version of ds4psy is hosted at https://github.com/hneth/ds4psy/.

---

ds4psy 0.6.0

Release of ds4psy (0.6.0) on CRAN
adds functionality, updates data, and reduces dependencies. [2021-04-08]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• add is_vector() to check for vectors (i.e., atomic vectors or lists)
• add get_set() for motivating visualizations

Minor changes

• update data in fame and Trumpisms

Details

• remove import of cowplot by adding theme_empty()
• reduce reliance on unikn by replacing some colors with corresponding HEX codes

---

ds4psy 0.5.0

Release of ds4psy (0.5.0) on CRAN
adds and revises functionality, updates data, and fixes bugs. [2020-09-01]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• Additional functions for dates and times:

  • add diff_dates() to compute temporal differences between dates (in human time units of years, months, and days)
  • add diff_times() to compute temporal differences between times (in human time units of years, ..., and seconds)
  • add diff_tz() to compute time difference based on time zone differences
  • add days_in_month() to obtain number of days in months for given dates (accounting for leap years)

• add is_equal() and num_equal() to check pairwise (near) equality of vectors

• add theme_clean() as an alternative to theme_ds4psy()

Minor changes

• rename is.wholenumber() to is_wholenumber()
• revise arguments of sample_date() and sample_time() to align with sample()
• revise theme_ds4psy() to provide control ov...

ds4psy 1.2.0

Release of ds4psy (1.2.0) on CRAN adds new data and fixes some bugs. [2025-11-05]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• Add new i2ds_survey data ($N=60$ participants, $116$ variables)

Minor changes

• Fix bugs in i2ds_survey data:
  • Add variable names to art preference tasks
  • Reverse scale in ranking of food items (e.g., apple, ..., mud)
  • Add some session information (referrer, date, duration)

Details

• Bug fix: replace size by linewidth arguments in ggplot2 functions

• Improve documentation:

  • Enumerate and re-arrange variables in i2ds_survey data
  • Update online documentation

The current development version of ds4psy is available at https://github.com/hneth/ds4psy/.

ds4psy 1.1.0

Release of ds4psy (1.1.0) on CRAN adds functionality, provides new data, and fixes some bugs. [2025-09-12]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• add i2ds_survey data (36 participants/rows, 112 variables)
• add plot_circ_points() function

Minor changes

• change gender in exp_num_dt into a binary variable (with values "female" vs. "not female")
• add deg2rad() and rad2deg() conversion functions

Details

• new logo

The current development version of ds4psy is hosted at https://github.com/hneth/ds4psy/.

ds4psy 1.0.0

Release of ds4psy (1.0.0) on CRAN fixes some bugs, but mostly acknowledges the package's stable state. [2023-09-15]

Changes since last release:

Minor changes

• bug fix: Update time zones

Details

• update status badges
• update URLs

The current development version of ds4psy is hosted at https://github.com/hneth/ds4psy/.

ds4psy version 0.9.0

Release of ds4psy (0.9.0) on CRAN adds functionality, implements minor changes, and fixes some bugs. [2022-10-20]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• add base2dec() and dec2base() functions for converting numerals into non-decimal notations, and back.
• add chars_to_text() and text_to_chars() functions for converting character vectors into text, and back.

Minor changes

• add rseed argument to map_text_regex() and plot_chars() for reproducible results.
• add collapse_chars() as a wrapper around paste() with a collapse argument.
• rearrange contents (by creating dedicated utility files).

Details

• fix minor bugs.
• add Zenodo doi 10.5281/zenodo.7229812 for citations.

The current development version of ds4psy is hosted at https://github.com/hneth/ds4psy/.

ds4psy version 0.8.5

Release of ds4psy (0.8.5) on GitHub adds functionality, implements minor changes, and fixes some bugs. [2022-10-20]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• add base2dec() and dec2base() functions for converting numerals into non-decimal notations, and back.
• add chars_to_text() and text_to_chars() functions for converting character vectors into text, and back.

Minor changes

• add rseed argument to map_text_regex() and plot_chars() for reproducible results.
• add collapse_chars() as a wrapper around paste() with a collapse argument.
• rearrange contents (by creating dedicated utility files).

Details

• fix minor bugs.

The current development version of ds4psy is hosted at https://github.com/hneth/ds4psy/.

ds4psy version 0.8.0

Release of ds4psy (0.8.0) on CRAN adds functionality, increases modularity, and fixes some bugs. [2022-04-08]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• add a invert_rules() function (for decoding encoded messages by inverting the rules used for encoding).
• add a words_to_text() function as the inverse of text_to_words().
• add a zodiac() function (with multiple outputs formats and options for redefining date boundaries).

Minor changes

• add table9 as a variant of tidyr::table2 as a 3-dimensional array (xtabs).
• improved capitalize() to also work for character vectors (i.e., setting the case of each element to upper- or lowercase).

Details

• fix minor bugs.

The current development version of ds4psy is hosted at https://github.com/hneth/ds4psy/.

ds4psy version 0.7.0

Release of ds4psy (0.7.0) on CRAN adds functionality, increases modularity, and fixes a bug in text data. [2021-05-12]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• Breaking change: The function read_ascii() was split into 2 parts (to enable independent access to their functionality):

  1. A new read_ascii() version reads text (from file or user input) into a character string;
  2. A new map_text_coord() function converts a text string into a table of individual characters (with x/y-coordinates).

• Added plot_chars() for plotting characters of text and visualizing pattern matches (specified as regular expressions) by highlighting labels (color/angle) or background tiles (color). The function uses 2 auxiliary functions:

  1. map_text_regex() adds pattern matching options (for colors and angles) to map_text_coord().
  2. plot_charmap() plots character maps as text and tile plots (with aesthetics for labels and tiles).

• Added count_chars_words() for counting the frequency of both characters and words in text strings.

Minor changes

• added plot_mar argument to theme_empty()
• added functionality to plot_text() (but see plot_chars())
• added utility functions for locating, identifying, and assigning vectors (of color/angle maps) to text strings matching a pattern
• added text_to_chars() and related functions for converting character strings (e.g., text to characters, preserving spaces)
• added utility functions for counting the frequency of characters and words in text strings
• renamed is_vector() to is_vect() as is_vector() function is defined by the purrr package

Details

• signal deprecation status in plot_text()
• bug fix: removed marked UTF-8 strings from Trumpisms

The current development version of ds4psy is hosted at https://github.com/hneth/ds4psy/.

ds4psy version 0.6.0

Release of ds4psy (0.6.0) on CRAN adds functionality, updates data, and reduces dependencies. [2021-04-08]

Changes since last release:

Major changes

• added is_vector() to check for vectors (i.e., atomic vectors or lists)
• added get_set() for motivating visualizations

Minor changes

• updated data in fame and Trumpisms

Details

• removed import of cowplot by adding theme_empty()
• reduced reliance on unikn by replacing some colors with corresponding HEX codes

The current development version of ds4psy is hosted at https://github.com/hneth/ds4psy/.

ds4psy version 0.5.0

Release of ds4psy (0.5.0) on CRAN: https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=ds4psy. [2020-09-01]

This release mostly provides additional functions for dates and times:

• added diff_dates() to compute temporal differences between dates (in human time units of years, months, and days)
• added diff_times() to compute temporal differences between times (in human time units of years, ..., and seconds)
• added diff_tz() to compute time difference based on time zone differences
• added days_in_month() to obtain number of days in months for given dates (accounting for leap years)

Minor changes include:

• added is_equal() and num_equal() to check pairwise (near) equality of vectors
• added theme_clean() as an alternative to theme_ds4psy()
• renamed is.wholenumber() to is_wholenumber()
• revised arguments of sample_date() and sample_time() to align with sample()
• revised theme_ds4psy() to provide control over colors of backgrounds, lines, and text elements
• updated fame data

Plus some bug fixes (see NEWS.md).