Are you a visual thinker?

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I don't know where I fall under, and after reading the other posts my brain's tied itself into a knot (I'll untie it later). When coming up with my story, I think visually, but it's all sketchy and conceptual. For example, I'd know a character would say this, and then another would reply with that, and then another would get up and walk up the stairs, and it would all be very visual, but things like how a cup is placed and what cards are being played in a game of P's and A's I'd have to get specific about to tell in words. Writing is like the HTML of thinking for me, and my mind could be seen as the web browser.

For other things such as being told something at school by a teacher, like Fraya, because of the fact it's visual, I remember the point of it but not what the words are, so I can forget what's being told to me after about half a hour. So it helps when what's being talked about is written up on the board, so that my mind (or internet browser if your sticking to the metaphor) can start to properly decode it.

Thank you so much for using this term, it fits me very well. I have always had trouble explaining how I think, I used to just say “I think in thoughts” and no one understood this, now I can say I’m a conceptual thinker.

I almost always think in concepts which I have to translate into words in order to communicate, and sometimes I have difficulty doing this and can’t figure out how to say what I want to, especially with the written word. I'm not a very visual thinker at all, I have to concentrate very hard to make visuals in my mind and they are always blurry sort of like a fuzzy TV.

Yes, I think visually. Some of my 'aspie moments' are related to this, for example if I've got the idea that 'X' is going to happen, I'll have a picture of that happening. If plans then change, sometimes my picture of 'X' happening fails to be replaced by a new picture (of 'Y' happening). Even though I know I have this tendency and sometimes can see the risk of me acting on my expectations of 'X', if my brain has failed to replace 'X' with 'Y' I will still act as though 'X' was going to happen, if you see what I mean. This leads to some really embarrassing 'Doh!' moments, which I can't explain to people.

Yes, I think visually. Some of my 'aspie moments' are related to this, for example if I've got the idea that 'X' is going to happen, I'll have a picture of that happening. If plans then change, sometimes my picture of 'X' happening fails to be replaced by a new picture (of 'Y' happening). Even though I know I have this tendency and sometimes can see the risk of me acting on my expectations of 'X', if my brain has failed to replace 'X' with 'Y' I will still act as though 'X' was going to happen, if you see what I mean. This leads to some really embarrassing 'Doh!' moments, which I can't explain to people.

[quote="scrulie"]This leads to some really embarrassing 'Doh!' moments, which I can't explain to people.[/quote]

I know what you mean. Many, many times was I supposed to go to the backup fridge to get some milk, but somehow I'd totally forget what I was supposed to be doing in a transitional split-second and do the next likely thing, which is walk into my room nearby. As soon as I entered I'd think "Okaaay, why'd I just do that?", then remember and get the milk and enjoy my breakfast!

Sometimes I'm not a very visual thinker at all. For example, if someone would say "A guy got blown apart with a shotgun" while I was eating lunch I wouldn't be phased at all (sorry for the violent example but it was the only one I could come up with).

I've been thinking about this. I think I had mixed up being a visual/auditory thinker with being a verbal/nonverbal thinker.
To use someone's number example:
-some people remember numbers by seeing 856 in their head. These are visual and nonverbal.
-others hear the words eight-five-six. These are auditory and verbal.
-still others see the words eight-five-six, and these are visual and verbal.

Now I got that sorted out for myself, I think I'm a verbal thinker. But I neither see nor hear the words in my head, they're just sort of "there". Sigh, now I have to go think it all over again.

In a word, yes.

im a visual thinker for the most part. i have good audio too, which allows me to remember a whole (one way) conversation someone is having with me, say giving instructions of sorts, that i can pull on so i can get the info and then go process it in my head cause i generally don't have a grasp on what they are saying to me atm. that also helps me with languages, so i can hear the words and replay them in my head so i can get a picture of the words they are saying and translate them.

but i think in pictures for the most part. i can doodle during class w/o taking notes and go back and look at the pictures and remember the lesson.

a problem i have with thinking in pictures a lot is that i can see things so well, that i forget whether they happen or not. like if im trying to think of what will happen for something, i visualize all the possible outcomes... and regardless of what the actual outcome is... later on, if i come back to the problem... i have problems dicerning which event actually took place because i remmebr vividly thinking about a lot of things resulting from the incident.

I'm not sure this is related but if some one reads a phone number or spelles a word for me its very, very hard for me to follow them at normal speech. I would never get it the first try.

I tend to call it "learning style" rather than "thinking style". For the most part, I am largely a visual learner. In second-place comes kinaesthetic. And in third place, auditory. Auditory is definitely my weakest.

When learning and thinking, I generally have to have some visual reference in order to truly "get it"-- although I usually have an auditory internal dialogue going, so...

Overall, the order:

#1: VISUAL
#2: KINAESTHETIC
#3: AUDITORY

And for those who don't know what "kinaesthetic" is, it means essentially "learning by doing" or "hands-on".

I'm neither?

I learn best by listening. I am however unable to recall the words moments later, because the words translate into pictures in my head or things that are neither pictures nor words. I can't work with visual information though. I am almost unable to explain anything in words, as pictures are too complex and the other things is more common.
Learning by doing, I rarely learn by doing something, including riding a bike. I have to learn it again and again and again in order to be able to do it.

I am a visual thinker but I have learned to translate the writen words into visual images and back again . I feel like it is a second language to mw the written word. that is. I have difficulties with abstract ideas until i can visualise them in my minds eye them I can understand them and sometimes improve unpon them.

I tend to think in terms of colors and movements as much or more than I think in words, actually.

Strongly visual and conceptual, 'thinker'-wise. Learning-wise, not sure.

Full mental 3D models with pan, zoom, walkthrough, etc.

I think by listening to myself in my mind. I rarely form pictures in my mind, but I do have some capacity to.

I'm heavily visual. It's one of my better "ice breaking" tricks, to look at an equation and tell you what the graph looks like. I've survived exams by closing my eyes and bringing up entire pages of text to re-read. When speaking conceptually, I almost always have an image in my head of what is happening, and can easily assemble/disassemble things hands off. It does have its drawbacks, as it's difficult to explain things to non-visualists.

Interesting someone should ask this here. I've been interested in the phenomenon for several years, since I was introduced to it as a first year grad student. Informal surveys seem to show that the Autistic/Aspie interviewees have a tendency toward visual thinking, and the ADD/ADHD folks tend toward language. There is of course, some variation.