Visual images often intrude on verbal thinking, study says
Harvard scientists are beginning to provide answers to one of the thorniest questions in psychology: How do we think? Human thought generally can be divided into two modes, the visual and the verbal. When you think about your next vacation and imagine sitting under a palm tree and sipping a cold drink, you’re probably thinking visually. If you’re thinking what you’ll say when you make a presentation at work, you’re likely thinking in words and sentences, creating inner speech. But are the two always separate? Can you utilize one without the other popping up? A new Harvard study suggests that the answer depends on which mode of thinking you’re talking about. Led by Elinor Amit, an affiliate of the Psychology Department, and Evelina Fedorenko of Harvard Medical School, the study found that even when they were prompted to use verbal thinking, people created visual images to accompany their inner speech, suggesting that visual...