The Altered States Database: Psychometric data from a systematic literature review
Cyril Costines, Ekin Derdiyok, Jannis Dinkelacker, Johanna Prugger, Timo T Schmidt
Scientific Data 2022 DOI: 10.17169/refubium-36827 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 165 |
| Population | Journal articles examining altered states of consciousness |
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Consciousness research Profound states Open science Open access Data sharing Freely available Research transparency Research database Data repository Scientific resource Data compilation Dataset Subjective experience Self-reported experience data Lived experience |
| Key findings | The ASDB provides open-access psychometric questionnaire data from 165 studies on subjective experiences of altered states of consciousness, enabling calculation of comparable values and dose-response relationships. |
Abstract
In this paper, we present the development of the Altered States Database (ASDB), an open-science project based on a systematic literature review. The ASDB contains psychometric questionnaire data on subjective experiences of altered states of consciousness (ASC) induced by pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods. The systematic review follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Scientific journal articles were identified through PubMed and Web of Science. We included studies that examined ASC using the following validated questionnaires: Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale (APZ, 5D-ASC, 11-ASC), Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI), Hallucinogen Rating Scale (HRS), or Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30). The systematic review resulted in the inclusion of a total of 165 journal articles, whereof questionnaire data was extracted and is now available on the Open Science Framework (OSF) website (https://osf.io/8mbru) and on the ASDB website (http://alteredstatesdb.org), where questionnaire data can be easily retrieved and visualized. This data allows the calculation of comparable psychometric values of ASC experiences and of dose-response relationships of substances inducing ASC