PsychologyMedicine

J. B. Ritchie, S. Wardle, Maryam Vaziri-Pashkam, D. Kravitz, Chris I. Baker

2026.2.24Cognitive Neuroscience

DOI: 10.1080/17588928.2026.2632644

Abstract

We are thankful for the thoughtful commentaries of our colleagues. In our discussion article, we argued for a course correction to how the field approaches the organization of visual function in occipitotemporal cortex (OTC) - one that moves us away from the dominant framework of category-selectivity towards a more ethological one centered on behavioral relevance. Some of the commentaries raised important issues regarding how our proposed framework does (or does not) contrast with category-selectivity. Other commentaries made helpful suggestions for how behavioral relevance can be studied. As a whole, the commentaries show that much work remains to be done, both theoretically and empirically, in developing a framework centered on behavioral relevance.

Citation format

RITCHIE, J. B., et al. What behavioral relevance is (not). Cognitive Neuroscience, 2026, 17(2): 109–114.