On spurious allusions

The criticisms of Walker’ theory by MacLeod, Virsu, and Carpenter are shown to stem from a too simple reading of the text of the theory, a failure to investigate fully the references cited to support their position, and an effort to bolster the theory of lateral inhibition in orientation detectors. The criticisms are shown to misrepresent the experimental data of various reports. Walker’s physiological premises are shown to be sound, and the cases of “contrary evidence” are shown infact to be in agreement with the theory. Lateral inhibition in orientation detectors as an explanation of optical illusions is shown to fail completely to agree with experimental results.