Do you think in pictures? words? both?....an experiment.

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I was asked this recently and I think for me it's both. If I'm thinking about something abstract I hear words when I think about anything that could have a picture associated with it I think in pictures and sometimes its both. If I'm doing a math problem, I'll see the numbers and points on the numbers that equal that number light up like dots...like the number 8 will have 8 dots, 4 on the top circle 4 on the both. Using this I can add really quickly. I don't however ever see words in my mind. I also cant picture a face as a whole (just parts). I've been thinking about this a lot lately and am so curious as to what other see/hear when they think.

Another thing that interests me if you do think in pictures, what makes your brain decide on a certain image? For me it seems that the image comes from the last time I saw whatever it is.

Does anyone think in smells, feelings or any other way?

Close your eyes and think of the following....what do you see/hear in your mind?

- a family member's face

- a math problem

- how to spell a difficult word

- what love is

- how to give directions to a place nearby

Share your answers if you like...and if possible state if you are AS (self diagnosed included) or NT.

Hmmmm, not to the extent that you describe.

I think of most issues and concepts in a visual fashion, on a map or a diagram.

FYI, you may want to ask this question in a poll format.

Sounds. Couldn't imagine pictures in my head if my life depended on it

I can only answer some of them:
Giving directions, I see a map.
Math problem, Colors. The same when thinking of a musical problem.
Spell a difficult word: I read it, see letters and syllables.
A family members face: Often music, a bit of a melody fitting the character of the face, or resembling my feelings.
My granmothers: I smell their perfumes.

"What love is", - that´s a tricky one.

I tend to think in both. Like when I'm typing I'm narrating in my head, either the letters or the syllables or both, but when someone asks me a questions it's either going to be this "picture" of what my opinion is (it's more like a visual representation than a picture) and possible a word here or there.

Once in a while I'll be thinking and a word I've never even really heard before will pop into my head and I already know what it means and everything... I love it when that happens.

I feel the feelings I have toward that person, but no face. I even cant describe my partner, when I have seen him some seconds before and I never recognize it, when he has a new hairstyle or such things.

Normally I turn it into geometry forms and turn it as I need it.

I see the word written before my eyes.

Cosy feeling.

If I imagine a place I want to travel for myself, it depends if I only know the target or if I have an additional map. If I only know about the target I´d go there as direct as possible. But I could need more time because of unknown dead ends, or train trails I am not allowed to cross and so on, that forces me to go a longer way.

If I had a map I´d memorize it including the best route, like if I was looking at the picture of an labyrinth. Then I´d follow that route.

If I needed to explain it to others, I´d do it in "Follow that street, at the third crossing go right, follow the street again for about 500 meters and turn on the second crossing left..." and so on.

I have heard that they invent a new generation of navigations systems for the car, that tell you instead of distances and directions about stuff that can be seen at the street. So people say that this shall be so great, because instead of the order "300m - turn left into ... street" (I only activated it visually, but I can see that informations as well.) you now get informations as "...at the crossing with the gas station turn left..." Sounds completely horrible for me. Instead of an exact information that gives me the oppurtunity to relax, because I know before when I will have to turn, I get an information, that forces me to search at the sides of the street, instead of focusing on the street, and when I can connect the information (because I am already at the crossing with the gas station) it is too late, because I should have known 50 meter before, that this is now the crossing with the gas station, where I need to turn left, so I can change into the right lane. They say, that it would be so great, because people cant value distances very well and could turn into the wrong crossing because of this (dont they have a map display on their navi?) while "a crossing with a gas station" is a clear instruction. I am not really happy with that.

Wow, this is interesting. But all this Autism and thinking in words or pictures confuses me a lot of the time. Personally I have never asked an NT what they think in, but I know I think in pictures, words, emotions, everything.

I think of a random relative of mine and can picture their face like I'm actually looking at them.

When I think of something like 2 x 6, I can see the actual numbers (2 6 12) in my head, but also a voice in my head says the numbers too (2 times 6 equals 12). Because I have poor maths skills, I see the numbers in the question before I see the answer. Because I'm so bad at maths, sometimes a voice in my head or picturing numbers in my head hinders me, so I use my fingers instead, miming or saying the numbers to myself as I do so.

Again I can see the letters, and because I'm quite good at spelling, I can skim along the word faster in my head, seeing each letter quickly as the voice says the word in my head. I play a lot of games with letters and words when I'm in bed if I can't get to sleep.

Thinking of this is usually based on emotion with me. I think of my future boyfriend (the man that I have a crush on who likes me too), and I think of how I feel about him and all the things I want to do with him, and often feel happy and excited about the magical day coming when he asks me out...


I don't use many words here, just skim along familiar streets in my mind. I'm not very good with giving or taking directions.

But in general, I think in words mostly. There is often a little voice in my mind chattering away, sometimes I listen to it and respond to it in my head. Often emotions get thrown into it too. Sometimes I wish my mind would shut up, and maybe then I won't be so anxious or depressed as I am.
I am a diagnosed Aspie by the way.

Last edited by Joe90 on 08 Apr 2013, 10:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

images and then sounds

I have answered this one in one of the other threads about thinking in pictures or not.

I do not know really. Somethings just happen. When I read I do not know what I remember. It seems that some information I recall, but much later then when I am reading it. So if someone asks me if I remember what I just scanned with my eyes, I could not remember. However if you ask me much later I would know. Seems odd, but it all depends on various factors. Visual and auditor. Mostly auditory, sounds such as sounds of objects, sounds of bells, music etc. Visiual thinking hard to understand for me, but it is there.

i think in pictures, solid modelled forms, i can twist rotate and see other views as per CAD systems. i make things for a living so its quite 'ornery i assume.

self diag aspi, worked alone 30 yrs as cannot stand the company of others FYI ......



whoops addition ... a day later i realise i'm supposed to answer questions ....

faces, seldom, just the woman i'll never meet ...

maths equations v poor, geometry v good, i see pictures ie lines, interactions. I bet I cld teach maths better than most maths teachers.

spelling.. pops up along my 'autocue' ... HOWEVER this last year or two as I type my mind has 'lost' the correct letters and sequence, either mistakes are bad or its on auto-pilot ... uh-oh !

love .. dunno... warm feeling?? ....wanting to be with ??

directions, I'm very good ....

future... sometimes fear, mostly at 55 (wife older) and no kids or relatives or friends its a solo journey, pills I think in the end.

Last edited by ablomov on 09 Apr 2013, 5:26 am, edited 3 times in total.

A family member’s face… I saw a close up of my mum’s face – very vividly. After the initial picture, I saw a photograph of her I’ve recently taken. Then I saw her standing at my door like she did the last time she visited. I was in the hall seeing her as I saw her as it happened. I even felt the emotions I felt then. When I think of it now, what we said and did there starts to run in my mind like a movie.

A math problem… The first thing I actually saw after I read this part of your assignment was a part of a documentary where people were supposed to correct an equation made out of sticks. Then I focused my mind to mathematical thinking, for otherwise my mind would have just projected more and more visual equations and associations caused by them. When thinking of maths, I really don’t see anything - numbers and logic don’t really have a form and I can’t explain it – they are far, shimmering things happening somewhere under. But if I for example think of physics I often see it visually. Like once the answer to a problem was shown by a dead physicist using tennis balls.

To spell a difficult word… I saw the word, but again thinking happens deeper. Suddenly the right way to do it pops into mind either from memory, intuition or some kind of relational logic (this is written so, so this is presumably also). As I tried to think of individual words to simulate this sort of situation, I started seeing images related to these words – a web page where the word once was seen by me, a record cover with the word and so on.

What love is? I saw an image of people embracing each other. It doesn’t answer your question though. Then I started to hear a song from the nineties called “What is love?” by Haddaway, because I was about to write your question in that order.

How to give directions to a place nearby... I saw the city from above, like flying over it. I might also move fast in the streets to go through the route I am thinking of. I might think of a map if I don’t know the city enough to fly like this. When I think of a map, I see a real map that I’ve seen. Now when I think of this, all sort of maps I’ve seen during my life start to run through my eyes. But I can pretty easily navigate even in a foreign city, without seeing a map.

Even though I am a very talkative person, words don’t really have a use in my mind.

Vague pictures for most of them. For how to spell a difficult word, I pictured a blank sheet of lined notebook paper tied with a great sense of frustration. The giving directions was an old corner of my childhood hometown tied with a sense of panic because I give very bad directions.

The face I thought of was my mother.

The math problem was 2+ and then it got unfocused.

"How to spell a difficult word" gave me an image of jumbled letters, most prominent being a "z". As a side point, both the math and the lettering were black on a white background.

"Love" gave me an image of a heart.

"How to give directions" gave me an image of a white piece of paper with rectangles and lines with arrows on it.

I didn't even close my eyes for these.

Can't quite say self-diagnosed, but let's say "strongly suspect I am", albeit borderline.

See my sig for details.

- a family member's face

I just can't. I have mild face blindness.

- a math problem

It's an warm emotion. I see relations and patterns besides. Anyway, maths for me are emotional.

- how to spell a difficult word

Just see the right letters (in case I know the right spell, of course).

- what love is

I feel confused. I can't define love, so I don't exactly what to imagine. I can imagine some warm loving feeling, but that is not a right image of love, any case.

- how to give directions to a place nearby

That's terribly easy. I see something similar to google maps in my head.

I suppose I think in pictures. Family member s face, I see my father laughing. Math problem? It looks like a 3d giant flash card. Spell a word? Looks like one of those 3d flying word art. How to give directions? I see myself going down that road like I was driving. I'm a visual cue driver and can't tell you the road name unless it's mine. I'm horrible at giving directions because I'm just like go left then right then left and you're there.