Behavioral assessment of visual toxicity.

A wide variety of behavioral methods has been employed with animals to assess visual changes induced by drugs or toxicants. The methods range from simple to complex, from broad screening devices to narrowly focused techniques. Their relative advantages for the environmental toxicologist are discussed. Manipulation of stimulus values is an essential ingredient in the identification of specific sensory functions. The percentage of correct choices from a discrete-trial, multiple-choice discrimination procedure is to be preferred to measures of response rate, speed or reaction time when experiments require answers about specific visual functions.