Neuropsychological evidence distinguishing object selection from action (effector) selection

We report two sets of data on object and action selection in a patient, ES, with an impaired ability to make task-based actions to objects. In simple action tasks, ES often made familiar actions to objects rather than the act ion appropriate to the task rule. We show that, despite having impaired sel ection of action, ES was able to select the target for action (based on sal ient perceptual differences). Relatively good object selection occurred eve n when the distractor had a stronger learned response than the target. In a ddition we show that distractors close to the path of action to a target ca n compete for, but are rejected from, selection along with any concurrently activated response. Suppression of an activated response improved performa nce, when the response would have been inappropriate to the task.