A rapid test of rodents' vision using a modified open field apparatus

Rats' responses to visual change in the environment were recorded in open field arenas in which a part or all of the visual environment could be altered without changing nonvisual features. Rats responded to a change in the appearance of one quadrant of a field by selectively reexploring the changed quadrant, and to a change in the whole environment by generally increasing their locomotor activity. The latter effect was equally large whether the change was from a patterned to a blank environment, or vice-versa. The present paradigms provide a rapid means of testing animals' vision.