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Paper Instructions:

Discussion 5: Reflect on the current course readings regarding context. What do you think about the different perspectives?  Post any questions or requests for clarification you may have regarding any of the concepts covered in the assigned readings for this week. Be sure to respond to your classmates.


Colleague's Post 

In the text by B. Baars (1997), context, visual perception, and mental filling-in were explored (Baars, 1997). He uses examples of how our mind makes assumptions and it influences what we perceive such as feeling the rolling motion of the water after we’ve stepped back on land (Baars, 1997, p. 116). Baars (1997) discusses priming effects and how these lead our mind to make certain assumptions, even when we are unaware that this is happening. This reminds me of a riddle that I heard:

“A father and son get in a car crash and are rushed to the hospital. The father dies. The boy is taken to the operating room and the surgeon says, “I can’t operate on this boy, because he’s my son.” “How is this possible” (Blachor, 2017).

In the beginning of this riddle there is a priming effect that may (in the presence of bias) lead the brain to make assumptions. As the riddle goes on, the assumptions are challenged. This seems to happen more frequently in everyday interactions than most people are aware of. Baars (1997) explains that parietal neglect can cause a patient to become resolute in what they think they know because they are unaware that their brain is only processing a portion of reality. Baars goes on to say, “It is just as if the patient has entered a state of contextual fixedness, and like people living in a world bounded by fixed but unsupported beliefs, they simply do not know, indeed they cannot know that anything is wrong” (Baars, 1997, p. 128). This is an interesting concept to consider socially. As polarized as many seem to be in politics currently, it is apparent that there are some people who are very “fixed” on stances that are not supported by statistics and fact checks—yet they are deeply rooted in their beliefs. The process assuredly begins with priming effects and biased assumptions that get substantiated through confirmation bias, and so forth, leading to a “fixed” state that lends to the person being unable to see an alternative. According to Baars (1997), this is a trait that all of us have as he states, “there is no such thing as an ultimately decontextualized point of view”(Baars, 1997, p. 129). Although, we can be mindful of priming, context and the vulnerability of perception to remain open to more truths.

The Hannaford (1995) reading for this week is so incredibly fascinating. Both of the chapters discuss the importance of movement with learning and emotional health which is in my field of interest as one who intends on creating a practice based on movement with mental health therapy. The Chapter titled Brain Gym is exactly my field of interest and is a great example of how movement and psyche are intertwined (Hannaford, 1995). I hope to incorporate much of this knowledge into practice: in the present with myself and family, but clinically in the future.



Baars, B. J. (1997). In The Theater of Consciousness. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Blachor, D. (2017). Gender Bias Riddles.

Hannaford, C. (1995). Smart Moves; Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head. Arlington, VA: Great Ocean Publishers, Inc.