Thinking in Words vs Pictures

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I was just watching an interview with Temple Grandin where she mentioned that she always thought in pictures and others thought in words. What does that mean? More specifically, what does it mean to think in words? I just read three different articles on this and I still don't understand it. It would be great if someone could provide some examples. Thank you.

I think more in pictures than I do in words. When I'm working on my wood carving, I have a picture in my mind's eye of how Om Nom is going to look when he's finished. I don't imaging a bunch of wordy instructions.

I think visually, in sounds and in words.

If you're not thinking in words it changes how you understand things. Certain types of problems have to be visualized in order to understand, no amount of hashing them out as theoreticals will ever really make one's understanding become intuitive.

Say something involving fluid dynamics; there's loads that have been written on the topic in all sorts of contexts whether it's water, steam, air, air with fuel mixed in for an internal combustion engine, etc.

Someone who can only think in words on the topic would probably have to resort to coming up with mathematical models to try to understand the problem they're encountering and how to work past it. Someone else who can consider that math in a fuzzy but intuitive way might be able to actually picture how changes to it will play out and be able to provide a solution that they might not be able to fully explain in words and hard math.

I think in both pictures and words.

I think and learn well nonverbally.


What thinking in words mean specifically...
... I don't think I can answer this properly. But I'll try.


I imagined, maybe, in a very linear and orderly like fashion (kinda like how grammar is in the background, but more conscious).
Imagine math that supposed to represent something 2d or 3d but... No graphs or object to represent it.
Only 'descriptions' of it along with how it is defined.

I don't know how vocabulary by itself manifests this way.
Other than networks of associations and usage of memory like a very widely and well agreed metaphor.

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I'm thinking abstract and in words but not in pictures nor emotions even that those can be part of an abstract thinking. That's not as rare for Asperger's but less common for other forms of autism as far as I know.
Thinking in words is just what it says. Words are just names for abstract things, happenings and actions that make those a part of the short term memory that is related to the sound of that words. Some people call those sound their inner voice. Visual thinkers are thinking in visions instead and words are just descriptions of the things in their vision for them. Because emotions and actions and non-visual things aren't the same level part of their visions are they becoming a lot later in life a part of their speech as well. I guess that HFA is often related to a very visual thinking.

The kids in schools should be separated regarding their way of thinking because visual thinkers need a different way of teaching than mostly abstract and verbal thinkers.

Some big differences show also in case of driving. Don't ever talk to visual thinkers if they are the driver because the pictures in their brains may distract them very much from reality. The things I see as non-visual thinker remain just abstract objects in my head that are in the 3D room around me and my vision and thinking are very independent.

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When someone is talking to me about something, I can picture in my mind what they are talking about.
I can also see in my mind their perspective, but it depends on what they're talking about. If they're confiding in me about their problems and how they feel, I can easily emotionally imagine what they're saying.
But I also think in words too. My mind is often chattering away with verbal thoughts, like a radio in my head.

I think in emotions too, very deeply.

I have quite a visual mind, which is unfortunate when it comes to my intrusive thoughts. When my head is in 'radio mode' I am usually running on auto-pilot. However, when I have an idea it is visual. I'll see my concept in my mind's eye before creating it. Usually I'll switch to visual mode when I'm planning something or relaxing. However, if I'm crossing the road or doing other everyday tasks that require my attention then I'll switch to radio mode.

When thinking about what it'll be like describing the current present in the future, I usually imagine myself on a stage with a stool and a glass of water talking to an audience. Sometimes I'll mentally visit certain spaces that I can't physically go to, such as one of my favourite thinking spots that I liked to go to in-between my classes, if I wish to relax.

Both. My model of reality is visual and my inner monologue is a commentary on the model.

I've somewhat lost my ability to think in pictures over time. It's still possible, but it takes much more effort.

I have Aphantasia and Prosopagnosia, plus a very poor visual memory. I can see flashes of imagery but it's fleeting. I can't picture book characters and I imagine the same two or three settings over and over again no matter what I read.

My thoughts are word-based. I even read and write in my dreams.

I can't visualize anything in my head. I've never been able to. I think in words as a second language of sorts. My default is to think in concepts and ideas. I then try to translate that to words if I need or want to express those ideas outside of my own head.

For me, thinking in words is like, say I want to think about what my oldest daughter looks like. I can't see an actual image of her in my mind. I can, however, use words to put together an idea of what she looks like if I felt the need to explain it to someone. Example, she has brown hair that is currently dyed red. She has solid brown eyes close to the color of coffee. Her complexion is a light shade of tan with an olive hue to it. I don't see the red, the brown, or the olive, but it's a point of reference that provides a verbal image that I know is accurate and would make sense to anyone listening to me.

Yeah, that's a general idea of what thinking in words v/s images is for me. Even though I cannot see an image, I can use words to describe the image from things I remember/know.

I think in... structures. Neither visual nor verbal. Constantly moving, colorless flow of rythm, factures and connections.

It's been proven professionally that I think more in words and pictures. I've got very impressive verbal abilities, but my visual-spatial abilities are average at best, and abysmal at worst.

Interestingly, I've read that verbal thinkers are often interested in weather. As someone who goes straight to Tropical Tidbits after first logging onto the Internet, saying "I like weather" might be a slight understatement.

I also think in instinct. Like I could understand and feel the emotion of somebody else and know what to do, but I can't explain or describe it in words.