Visual thinking

Visual thinking, also called visual or spatial learning or picture thinking, is the phenomenon of thinking through visual processing. Visual thinking has been described as seeing words as a series of pictures. It is common in approximately 60–65% of the general population. "Real picture thinkers", those who use visual thinking almost to the exclusion of other kinds of thinking, make up a smaller percentage of the population. Research by child development theorist Linda Kreger Silverman suggests that less than 30% of the population strongly uses visual/spatial thinking, another 45% uses both visual/spatial thinking and thinking in the form of words, and 25% thinks exclusively in words. According to Kreger Silverman, of the 30% of the general population who use visual/spatial thinking, only a small percentage would use this style over and above all other forms of thinking, and can be said to be true "picture thinkers".

Thinking in mental images is one of a number of other recognized forms of non-verbal thought processes, such as kinesthetic, musical, and mathematical thinking.

The acknowledgement and application of different cognitive and learning styles, including visual, kinesthetic, musical, mathematical, and verbal thinking styles, are a common part of many current teacher training courses. Those who think in pictures have generally claimed to be best at visual learning.

Empirical research shows that there is no evidence that identifying a student's "learning style" produces better outcomes. There is significant evidence that the widespread "meshing hypothesis", the assumption that a student will learn best if taught in a method deemed appropriate for the student's learning style, is not fully studied in proper detail. “Of those that did use an appropriate method” of research, “several found results that flatly contradict the popular meshing hypothesis”.

A common assumption is that people think in language, and that language and thought influence each other. Linguistics studies how language is used and acquired.

The strong version of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis in linguistics states that language determines thought, and that linguistic categories alone limit and determine cognitive categories. Although Whorf himself framed linguistic relativity in terms of "habits of mind" rather than determinism, the revolutionary nature of his hypothesis was met with much misinterpretation and criticism. In 1969, Brent Berlin and Paul Kay rejected the strong hypothesis using a color terminology study.

Steven Pinker notes that people are not born with language, so that it is not likely that they are engineered to think in words alone.

Gardner's multiple intelligences theory recognises various forms of intelligence, namely spatial, linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic. Gardner's theory is discussed and cited in many of David A Sousa's 'How the Brain learns' series of books, including 'How the Gifted Brain learns' and 'How the Special Needs Brain Learns'. Areas of competence may be reinforcing, but also mutually exclusive. In today's society the link between IQ and education has weakened, but the idea of educated and intelligent has become synonymous, interchangeable and reinforced by verbalizers being better able to internalize information, advocate systems and design jobs that monetarily reward strengths, a cycle that is self-perpetuating.