Think of a cat. Now picture a cat.

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When you said think of a cat, I imagined a word spelling "cat" in front of me and when you said picture it, I simply pictured it.

Thinking in pictures is easy for me. I can't think in terms of words though. As in I can't picture the word in my head, especially if it's a longer word. I was horrible at spelling bees.

Since I do a lot of theater, it's also a problem when memorizing lines. While I can picture a script in my head, I can't see the words on the script. To memorize, I focus on learning what the words are saying instead of the words themselves. I'm very dependent on stage direction and cues from other actors when memorizing lines too.

This is a very interesting topic.

I think largely in pictures, but not so much with abstract concepts such as "interesting". With abstract concepts I generally just think of the ways that a given thing can fit into the given abstract category. For example, with my above statement "this is a very interesting topic," I think of all of the different examples of thought processes that I read about in this thread. In other cases, I will imagine myself experiencing the abstract concept. For example, when I read "I do not understand how somebody can think in pictures," I imagined myself with a thought bubble with nothing in it, which I guess is also an image.

With concrete concepts I believe I think pretty much exclusively in images. When I read "think of a cat," I imagined a cartoonish cat licking its paw. When I read "Now picture a cat," I thought the exact same thing. A few minutes ago, my girlfriend asked me if I wanted her to throw some of my clothes in the wash with hers. I imagined the clothing item in the state it was in at the time, and then I imagined what they would look like if they were washed. I also imagined wearing them dirty, leaving them on the floor, and washing them at my house. I replied with "yes," and as i did so, I imagined her throwing them in the washing machine and then coming out clean. I make most of my decisions by visualizing what the situation would look like based on any of the different choices I can make.

I also watch processes happen in my head while I am reading about them, or while they are being explained to me. I can't understand how something works unless I imagine it happening in my head. This is perhaps why I am good at math. I have to imagine to some extent the actual physical process the math problem is explaining in order to solve the problem.

I think in words, mostly. If I think of a cat I think of the words 'a cat', but picture a cat was just the same to me until I learnt that I was supposed to be picturing the cat, so my mind draws up cartoon images of cats which I've seen (ie. garfield) depending on how much I try to think about it, but it's very hazy.

I can picture words and numbers when I close my eyes, provided I'm not supposed to be doing anything with them in a text form. I think I remember somewhat visually. My dreams are mainly abstract colours, occassional vague pictures and me dictating what happens. I feel like I sleep better when I'm less in control, though.

If someone says "think of a cat" I'll end up thinking the word "cat" once while getting an image of a cat.

If someone says "picture a cat" I'll end up getting an image of a cat.

I keep picturing things. If someone says think of a cat, I picture a cat. Someone who says they don't understand how someone can think in pictures, I picture picture thinking. Pictures floating above a person's head.

Lolcats.

For me, if you tell me to think of something concrete (let's say a house), I will think of both the word "house" and a picture of a house. I will almost literally picture the house. If you tell me to think of an idea or a concept, my thoughts perceive it as such.

When I think of a cat, I do picture a cat. While sometimes there are a few words going around in there, I am a very visual thinker. I cannot really explain how that works except I can easily conjure up a vivid picture in my mind that works something like a movie, with details, movement, colours, etc.....yet I can also still see everything around me (ie. it is not a hallucination. I know it is not real, it doesn't replace reality, it is just a visual thought).

I was thinking of an elephant the other day and at first it was a cartoon then it turned into a movie of an elephant in a type of reserve at the zoo.

I'm not sure why I was thinking about an elephant.

When people say to me “picture a…cat ” I first think to myself “is that enough information to do the requested. If it is not I then try and ask/research into what kind of “cat” are we talking about? If the person doing the asking is British, American or African I think of one kind of cat, or if his/her hobby is rope making or leather working, then I’d think of a different kind of cat, you also have to ascertain of they are in to the party or drug scene, if they are then that is a yet another type of cat. I keep asking questions until I have enough information to think accurately about the Cat in question.
For too much of the time we are filling in the bits of information in error, and it lead to assumptions and mistakes which make any kind of communication, which is hard enough at the best of time, almost impossible.