Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scales

The Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scales (ASC) are psychometric scales used in research on altered states of consciousness such as those induced by hallucinogenic drugs like psychedelics. Forms include the APZ, OAV (3D-ASC), 5D-ASC, 11-ASC, and 3D-ASCr.

Forms

The ASC scale has several different forms, including:

The 5D-ASC is the most widely used, followed by the 11-ASC version, based on literature citation counts in 2022.

History

The original APZ was first described by Adolf Dittrich in 1975 and was among the earliest scales for assessing hallucinogen effects. The OAV (3D-ASC) was developed and described by I. Bodmer in 1989. BETA was later developed by Dittrich and colleagues and then the OAV and BETA were combined by them to create the 5D-ASC in 1999. The 11-ASC was described by Franz X. Vollenweider and colleagues in 2010. The 3D-ASCr scale was described by Matthias Liechti and colleagues in 2025.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Herrmann Z, Earleywine M, De Leo J, Slabaugh S, Kenny T, Rush AJ (2023). "Scoping Review of Experiential Measures from Psychedelic Research and Clinical Trials". J Psychoactive Drugs. 55 (4): 501–517. doi:10.1080/02791072.2022.2125467. PMID 36127639.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Prugger J, Derdiyok E, Dinkelacker J, Costines C, Schmidt TT (November 2022). "The Altered States Database: Psychometric data from a systematic literature review". Sci Data. 9 (1): 720. doi:10.1038/s41597-022-01822-4. PMC 9684144. PMID 36418335.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Studerus E, Gamma A, Vollenweider FX (August 2010). "Psychometric evaluation of the altered states of consciousness rating scale (OAV)". PLoS One. 5 (8) e12412. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012412. PMC 2930851. PMID 20824211. Dittrich's APZ (Abnormal Mental States) questionnaire [1]–[4] and its revised versions, OAV [5] and 5D-ASC [6], [7], are among the most widely used self-report questionnaires for assessing subjective experiences of ASC in retrospect. Although originally developed in German, these questionnaires have been translated into many different languages and applied internationally in approximately 70 experimental studies. The majority of these studies have used these questionnaires to assess ASC induced by psycho-active drugs, particularly psilocybin (eg [8]), ketamine [9], MDMA (eg [10]), and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) (eg [11]), but several studies have also assessed non-pharmacologically induced ASC, such as ASC induced by endogenous psychosis [12], sensory deprivation [13], mind machines [14], and monochrome sounds [15]. [...] The original version, APZ, contains 158 dichotomous items covering a broad range of phenomena potentially occurring during ASC. It was originally developed by Dittrich [1]–[4] [...]
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Stocker K, Hartmann M, Schmid Y, Vogt SB, Becker AM, Ley L, Straumann I, Arikci D, Klaiber A, Erne L, Vizeli P, Holze F, Liechti ME (December 2025). "The 3D-ASCr scale: A revalidation of the core dimensions of the Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale 5D(11)-ASC for psychedelic research". J Psychopharmacol 2698811251397328. doi:10.1177/02698811251397328. hdl:20.500.11850/791180. PMID 41451514.
  5. 1 2 Dittrich, A. (1975). Zusammenstellung eines fragebogens (APZ) zur erfas‐sung abnormer psychischer zustände [construction of a question‐naire (APZ) for assessing abnormal mental states]. Z Klin Psychol Psychiatr Psychother, 23, 12. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=8870873145239709113
  6. ↑ Dittrich, A. Ätiologie-unabhängige Strukturen veränderter Wachbewußtseinszustände: Ergebnisse empirischer Untersuchungen über Halluzinogene I. und II. Ordnung, sensorische Deprivation, hypnagoge Zustände, hypnotische Verfahren sowie Reizüberflutung; 119 Tabellen. (Enke, 1985)
  7. 1 2 Dittrich A (July 1998). "The standardized psychometric assessment of altered states of consciousness (ASCs) in humans". Pharmacopsychiatry. 31 Suppl 2: 80–84. doi:10.1055/s-2007-979351. PMID 9754838.
  8. 1 2 Bodmer I (1989) Konstruktion des Fragebogens OAV zur quantitativen Erfassung von aussergewöhnlichen Bewusstseinszuständen (ABZ). Unpublished Lizentiatsarbeit [Master's-Thesis equivalent]. University of Zurich, Zurich.
  9. 1 2 Bodmer I, Dittrich A and Lamparter D (1994) Aussergewöhnliche Bewusstseinszustände—ihre gemeinsame Struktur und Messung. In: Dittrich A, Hofmann A and Leuner H (eds) Welten Des Bewusstseins. Bd. 3. Experimentelle Psychologie, Neurobiologie Und Chemie. Berlin, Germany: VWB—Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=15632949336738292786