Recurrent models of orientation selectivity in the visual cortex postulate that an initially broad tuning given by the pattern of geniculate afferents is substantially sharpened by intracortical feedback. We show that these models can be tested on the basis of their predicted responses to certain visual stimuli, without the need for pharmacological or physiological manipulations. First, we consider a detailed recurrent model proposed by Somers, Nelson and Sur [(1995) Journal of Neuroscience, 15, 5448-5465] and show that it can be simplified to a single equation: a center-surround feedback filter in the orientation domain. Then, we explore the responses of the simplified model to stimuli containing two or more orientations. We find that the model exhibits peculiar responses to stimuli containing two orientations, such as plaids or crosses: if the component orientations differ by less than 45 deg the model cannot distinguish between them; if the orientations differ by more than 45 deg the model overestimates their angle by as much as 30 deg. Moreover, the model cannot signal the presence of three orientations separated by 60 deg (it responds as if there were only two orientations), and the addition of two-dimensional visual noise to an oriented stimulus results in strong spurious responses at the orthogonal orientation. We argue that the effects of attraction and repulsion between orientations and the emergence of responses at off-optimal orientations are common to a wide class of feedback models of orientation selectivity. These models could thus be tested by measuring the visual responses of cortical neurons to stimuli containing multiple orientations.