Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

According to Bateson (1972), context may be considered a collective term which indicates to the organism the range of options from which to make its next choice. An organism responds differently to the ‘same stimulus’ in different contexts. In human life, signals exist, the function of which is to classify contexts. It is this source of information that is called a ‘context marker’ (Selvini Palazzoli et al., 1978). At the human level, there are context markers which allow differentiation between a theatrical and a real drama; a boxing match and a fight to the death; a placebo treatment and a pharmacologically real treatment. Such markers are signs which allow the differentiation between context and metacontext, and thus the classification of the nature of the lived experience. See also double bind; ecosystem. ) p.s. ... log in or subscribe to read full text