A decisional analysis of the effects of inferotemporal lesions in the rhesus monkey.

Abstract

Modified signal detection procedures were used to analyze the effects of inferotemporal cortical resections. A severe difficulty in responding to differences in luminance; a small but consistent change in sensitivity, which is attributed to an increased sensitivity to noise or a deficiency in the suppression of irrelevant aspects of the environment; and an enhanced bias to respond to a nonrewarded stimulus (a lowering of criterion) were demonstrated. This altered bias contrasts with the results obtained from limbic resections in a previous experiment which produced a marked increase in bias to a rewarded contingency without influencing discrimination or detection. The utility of animal models for separating cognitive from primary sensory disturbances in agnosias and aphasias was discussed.