Do You Think in Pictures?

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(checks to make sure I didn't type that in and forget)

I do think in pictures and mental video for most purposes, but not often for idioms, oddly.

I think in words for the most part. But I always have a picture in my mind to accompany the words, though it isn't very clear.

Hi StarTrekker, I'm curious. If you are also a "picture thinker" like me, how does the social skills group help you, and what do you do in it? I'm considering signing up for one, and one of my BIG issues is in understanding the meaning behind what people say and do, both in verbal and nonverbal communication. I frequently misunderstand people or get instructions confused, especially at work when I'm having to participate in a staff meeting. Sometimes if my boss tells me something, I can't tell if I am in deep trouble or she's just passing along some new rule and it's no big deal.

i've been thinking about this question all day ever since i saw this thread, and the answer is, i actually have no idea what i think in. i have an internal monologue, sometimes, that runs into my head, but other times it's quiet. when i'm trying to solve a problem i'll sometimes mutter things out loud to myself, or i'll run a simulation in my head, of how it will look after i do a certain operation. but i don't know what this means, does this mean i'm a verbal thinker??

maybe i just don't do enough thinking to be able to know how to answer this question.

o_0

I swear, boredome, every time you post, I get mesmerized by your avatar... uhhhhhhhhh *>clunk<*

Basically, we sit in a circle and discuss whatever topic the leaders have brought up for the week. This week it was humour and sarcasm, last week it was handling boring conversations, and so on. They ask questions about what we think the most appropriate way to handle a situation is, or how one might be able to tell something about the social environment (when someone is bored, when humour is appropriate to use, when a topic does or doesn't match well with the context of the conversation, etc.).

We also do role-plays, in which the group leaders demonstrate the concepts we're learning. For instance, when we were learning about active listening, one of them pretended to be sad about something, and the other went through the steps of asking what was wrong, showing appropriate commiseration, making sure not to give advice or to switch to a new topic because it might hurt her feelings or make her feel like she wasn't being listened to, etc.

Sometimes we pair up with other group members and practise the skills we've learned, like conversation starters or active listening. I don't like this part so much because I don't like working directly in groups or partners (although being part of a group is a little different from working in a group, for me at least).

Overall I find group very helpful, and I enjoy it a lot. I've met a lot of cool people there, and the leaders are great; they make things funny and easy to understand without being patronising or condescending. If you can find such a group in your area, I'd recommend it.

As far as exactly how it helps me, it teaches me nuances, like how to exit a conversation gracefully, or how to identify when someone is bored with a conversation (usually they change topics, which until recently, I thought they were just doing because they got distracted, so I always brought it back to the topic I had been discussing, not realising that the other person switched it deliberately because they wanted to talk about something else!)

We set goals to complete every week between groups too, which helps keep me motivated to try new skills and keep practising, because I wouldn't be motivated to put in the effort if I were just doing it for myself. I've gotten better at starting conversations with strangers, making eye-contact, and making sure my body language portrays what I want it to, among other things.

It probably means you have more of a tendency toward verbal thinking. If you were a visual thinker, the pictures in your head would probably give it away. When you have your internal monologues, do you just hear the words, or do you read some or all of them like text on a screen? The running simulations in your head could be indicative of picture thinking, but it's entirely possible that you don't have just one mode of thought processing, perhaps you are unique!

I find that I speak in idioms waaaayyyy more than the average person, and I think that is because I am trying to paint a picture with my words....or translating the pictures in my head literally... Like "par for the course" or "running around like a chicken with it's head cut off" etc. This became a bit of a problem for me when I was in college with people from other countries. My classmates couldn't figure out why I kept using idioms with them. I didn't even notice I was doing it! Once my professor explained that those things don't translate well because they are "experiences" that perhaps I am more familiar with than the foreign students, it made sense and I tried hard not to use them with those students.

I definitely think mainly in a visual way, pictures and moving images and whatnot, but I also hear my thoughts as speech in my head. But the visual part seems pretty dominant. I remember realizing as a child that people who have been blind their whole life probably don't think visually like I do and trying so hard to figure out how they probably think.

Somewhat. But the images come out as blurry and colorless. I "see" words in my head when I think. I say that because I can't really "talk in my head" but rather have to move my tongue and vocal cords to think, wich I don't know if everyone does or if they hear a voice in their heads. The only images I can see clearly, except words, is when I'm reading a book. The images come up as some sort of scripts that logically translate into my brain as clear images.

I "hear" my own voice in my head. It's an inner monologue. And it never shuts up. I'm pretty much talking to myself in my head at all times.

Yes, I tend to think in terms of pictures as well, sometimes I can visualize something in my mind as, if I was watching a movie or so forth, if this has any relevance to the topic being discussed?

i always see the words that i'm thinking, i can't hear text without also seeing it typed out in my head. and i sometimes get pictures in my head, for example when i read 'text on a screen' i got a mental image of white text scrolling down on a black background.

i guess that this combined with my internal monologues makes me a verbal-picture thinker like you said.. *shrug*

That's interesting. I have the exact same image of white words on a black background that you do when thinking about "text on a screen".

I am very visual in my thinking. But it doesnt interfere with understanding idioms. In fact it usually helps to understand idioms.