Every time I talk to my friends about reading they say its boring, just reading words and trying to think what it means. But every time I read a book its like a movie in my head. When I read i don't see pages or words or anything happening outside my little movie. I have always wondered if anyone else read that way and if its just how all people read, like the human mind just does that automatically.

I'm new here, and is every person here a parent or something?

Welcome, no I don't think everyone here is a parent, and also most of those were young once too!

Yes my brain does the little movie, too, I wouldn't have it any other way. My ds9 recently read the Percy Jackson books and he said it was like watching a movie AND playing a video game at the same time! (So anyway, he liked the books!)

I am not sure all people do that movie in the head thing, that might be a visual-spatial tendency.

I have had people tell me books like 'Pride and Prejudice' are boring, and I just do NOT know what to say. When asked if I've read anything good lately I usually have a few things to say because I'm reading at least a couple books at once...maybe not when the kids were first born, but I am getting back to my old habits, which I very much enjoy.
My dh is the same way, many books, some books over and over. Don't worry that reading isn't 'cool' or interesting, you will eventually find folks who love books, reading and discussing books ...hopefully sooner rather than later!

Welcome!

I also "live" the book while I am reading. I am a parent now but I have read this way since I was a kid. I used to walk to school reading a book! I don't see, hear or think about anything else while I am reading. If it is a really good book I think a bomb could go off next to me and I wouldn't notice.
Read on!

Hmmm doesn't everyone do this? No?

Books make much more of an impact than movies to me. For example I saw the first Harry Potter movie before I read the books and when I read the books I do NOT see all the characters in my head as the movie actors. I actually don't read a lot fiction right now because, I can't just start a book and then put it down. I have to read the whole thing. Kind of makes things difficult with a 4yo. That is why I am a non-fiction girl right now.

Also, you should learn to knit and find some knitting friends. For some reason all my knitting friends are also in love with books.

Yes, it is like living in a movie for me, and yes I'm the parent of a gifted child (giftedness is highly hereditary)
Part of why I spend time here is that I'm motivated to be the kind of parent that I needed when I was a gifted kid.
As you can see from the banner above, this forum was specifically set up for issues of parents of gifted kids trying to deal with their educational issues, but we welcome everyone of every age!

If you are looking for internet forums for gifted kids, scroll down this page:

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/on-line_support.htm

If you haven't been to hoagies, click around, it's huge and wonderful.

Enjoy,
Grinity

I don't really think in images. But words convey an awful lot more than images do. Yes, books are generally more vivid than movies for me. And I am often disappointed when I see a movie and it doesn't (and how could it?) match up to the book.

I live books...it is great. When I was a kid I would remember books I had read for a long time by "the movie" they made in my head. I still do I guess but I think I used it more when I was little to make connections. I also remember where in the book things happened because I am able to visualize it so easily. So I have freaked a lot of people out by turning right to the page. In high school I used it to memorize chalkboards. I could see where all the words were and when the teacher drew diagrams and explained how things worked I could make them come alive in my head. And despite what people say I actually learned a lot of fact from television. I am guessing that since the visual part of it is taken care of on television my mind doesn't wander as much as when I am reading a book so I focus on fact. I do prefer to read. I can already see this is my daughter. She is 4. She has had more nightmares from books and her own life experiences than movies and she has watched some fairly scary movies for a 4yr old. I think this is probably what allows my daughter and me to be so creative. When someone says a word I can usually pull up several images in my head and most of them are images I made up from descriptions in books.

Hi, Skycil, welcome! I am a parent, and I think there is NOTHING in the world that is more interesting than a good book! And I have felt that way since about 1st grade... I always consider people who don't like to read to be rather unfortunate. So you are one of the lucky ones!

Both my daughters love to read also, and over the years have gravitated to friends who like books. A couple of months ago after a formal school dance my youngest had 3 friends for a sleepover. It got verryyy quiet when they went up to change clothes, and I thought maybe they fell asleep. I went up to check, and all four were sitting in her room reading to themselves! So keep an eye out for some new friends who like to read; they might be kind of the quiet kids, so you will need to watch for them.

My 11 year old son and I were talking about the "mind's eye" and the ability to visualize while reading or just remembering past events after reading an article in a magazine about a man who suddenly lost the ability to visualize. We told my husband, who also reads a lot, about the article and he said that he cannot see things in his mind's eye either. I can't imagine not being able to do this. I love being able to replay books and movies in my head and mentally rehearse things by playing things out in my mind's eye.

My son says he not only enjoys seeing things in his mind's eye but also listening to things in his "mind's ear." He says for him, this doesn't work as well as his mind's eye because his mind's ear keeps repeating the same parts of the new song he just heard or sometimes it won't turn off sometimes when he wants it to.

My son has the same problem with friends not being that interested in reading. Only one of them, 4 years older, shares his love of reading. So we often read and discuss books together and I really enjoy doing this with him.

What a great question to explore! My DD and I have had a similar conversation when we've encountered questions like, "do you think in pictures or words". She would say she thinks in pictures, I would say I think in words. However, we are both avid readers who quickly become lost in our books and re-read favorites to revisit old friends--and by that I mean the actual characters as much as I mean the books . I would say that we both experience the books as if we are a part of the book. My guess is DD could draw pictures of the characters from the pictures she thinks in, whereas I could not. I must "see" it as I'm reading it in order to feel I'm living it, but whatever visual images I form don't remain with me afterwards. Does that make sense? I'm definitely not spatial, whereas she might be. My hypothesis would be that auditory/verbal/visual/spatial factors don't determine the ability to become lost in a book, but probably do encode the information/experience differently for us in terms of what we experience when we *remember* a book.

I've seen students hang on every word of a read aloud despite being disinterested independent readers. Not sure where that figures into the whole question.....

I do the same thing :-) I am a mommy but have been a book-a-holic for as long as I can remember. I am in love with books and they always seem to play out in my mind while I am reading. I somehow can read really, really fast and go through books like most people go through chocolates :-) I constantly have 1-2 books on my table - Barnes and Noble loves me.

I always wondered the same thing...if reading was so vibrant for others or if it was just me. I think I love reading so much because it just takes me to the amazing places!

Of course I do! No, I'm not a parent (gifted student) but I definitely do that. Not only do I just make it a movie, but I become engulfed into the book and I AM one of the characters in the book. I adore reading. It is incredibly fun! Also, If I'm not satisfied with the way something is happening in a book or I want to add onto the story I read, then, voila, something to do once I've finished my book and once again become bored in class! Haha, I am very good at multitasking though so I become engulfed in the book but still pay attention to the "snore fest" that's actually going on. Then I love when teachers try to make me feel stupid by calling on me when I am "Obviously not prepared or caring about school because I am reading a book INSTEAD of paying attention." (Note: that must be said in a silly, mocking tone) then I end up answering it perfectly. *sigh* If only everyone could understand.

I only recently discovered (and I'm almost 40!) that not everyone has that movie (or pictures) in their mind when they read... or think... or... well, anything! I can't wrap my brain around seeing in 'words'. I mean, what does that 'look' like? Do you literally see 'words'? Don't you have to get some kind of image in your mind when you read words? No?

My son (6) is like you and he really becomes what he sees. We aren't a TV family, but he recently saw a very tame classic children's movie and could NOT stay in his seat. He kept squealing out loud, talking to the characters, moving his arms, falling off the chair, stomping his feet, etc. He gets into his books too, but not like that.

I find this topic fascinating. Thanks for bringing it up.

Another thing that I was shocked to learn as an adult is how slowly people read. Many people read at the pace they speak, sounding out each word in their heads. Very strange to me.

I process in images but I remember in words. If I am taking a test I can see the page and I "reread" it in my mind. I can only do this if I studied the material. Usually when it is something technical in nature.

Count me in for the movie in my mind group. I much prefer reading a book to seeing a TV show or movie most of the time. Until very recently (I'm almost 40 too) I never even thought to think about whether everyone felt this way about reading. I couldn't imagine why so many prefer to watch TV instead of read in the evenings. The most effective punishment as a child was being grounded from reading. Smart Alec that I can be, I did try to apply that to school assignment also... After 8 weeks (one marking period) of no pleasure reading I rarely made it to that level of discipline again.

A couple months ago, DS 11 had a book report due and was struggling to come up with how to draw a cartoon illustration of the main action of the book. I asked him questions and finally said draw what you saw in your mind when you read it!!! He looked at me very blankly and said that he couldn't write down the words. Now he reads very quickly and comprehension and detail are great. I never knew that he didn't see the book the way I do. Instead he can recreate the page in his mind for recall. It turns out that DH also was confused by the moview in my mind idea. Both DS and DH are math gifties although DS is actually pretty equal verbal and quantitative.

Believe it or not, I've discovered that my primary method of thinking is kinetic, not visual or verbal or auditory. So, no, I definitely don't have an image unless I'm trying to think of one. But I can feel it, and I can feel the shapes of the words.



LOL You should hear my (dyslexic, 2E) DH read. He speaks like the highly intelligent person that he is, but he reads like a 2nd grader (though he can decode and understand up to a much higher level, obviously). He's less fluent than my 4-year-old.

I do see a "movie" when I read, I also vividly live trough the story. It is bad as I can not stop reading a good book. Now I'm too busy with work and DD to read anything. Sometimes I take one of DHs books in the evening and go to sleep when I have it finished. I'm a fast reader but not fast enough that I could read a book and still have enough time to sleep during the same night. I just can not put a good book down. When I was in school I used to take books with me to classes and when teachers did not notice I would read them and if I did not get enough sleep after reading all night I would nap after school. My life has too much responsibilities now for that. If a book is very emotional I have hard time letting that world (from the book) go after I finished it and I keeps bothering me for week.

When I read I do not see words as images, I have no idea how I understand what I read LOL I read english and my native language equally as well. Although I do write and speak my native language better than english.

I definitely don't see the words when I remember a book, I don't think I even register that I see the words when I'm reading a book ! It's more that my memory of the book is auditory rather than visual. It's kind of odd, because I'm not a very auditory learner (for instance, I can only judge the spelling of a word by seeing it on paper; I always recognize a familiar face, but often can't attach the person's name to it, etc.). I know that I have visual images along with what I'm reading, but they are kind of indistinct--the visual details aren't "sharp", they're kind of...ephemeral.

I think that's how I am in the rest of my life too. Obviously I see the things in my life as I'm experiencing them, and certain visual experiences remain vivid even in memory, but mostly my memories are auditory. I'll have a visual snippet (snapshot or film-segment, if you will), that is accompanied by a much longer auditory memory. It's kind of like when I visited Ellis Island and took the audio tour as I walked through the museum. There were pictures and images, but the meat of the experience was in the voices that put all the life into those still pictures.

I think it's fascinating that the reading experience appears to be just as satisfying and absorbing for both types of readers described here. It would be easy to think that a picture thinker couldn't make words come alive completely enough to fall into a book, or that a word thinker couldn't create an engrossing enough alternate world without the vivid movie.

So here's a question then....for those that have a highly visual experience in books, do you hear your voice in your head when you write, or is that something that is more typical of those of us who think in words?

I "see" the book like most here have mentioned, especially if it's fiction. With non-fiction I used to freak out my science teachers because I would be stuck on a word answer and I could tell you the page, column, paragraph and sometimes even sentence that the answer was in, but not that much needed word. Reading was my survival in my younger years. I cannot watch a movie if I've read the book, to much of a let down each and every time.

I also read extremely fast. So I am definately surprised by how slow many people read, luckily my DD's seem to have inherited this trait.

I so remember these days. I will never forget the day the Biology teacher did this to me for the last time. He was using a Chemistry formula and had it wrong. He had to call in the Chem teacher before he would believe me. After that he left me to read in peace. I'm sure many of us can relate.

I first realized in college that when people said that they were visualizing something, that they really MEANT a VISUAL image! I was floored. Prior to that, I'd thought it was just a figure of speech.

The only time I "see" images in my mind is when I dream. Other than that, all my memories, reading experiences and the like are word-based. I don't always hear the words, although I frequently do. It's more like my mind groups words together and that paints its own non-visual image or experience. I hope that makes sense.

I've found it interesting that although I can't visualize things, I am very good at recalling where, for example, I last saw an item that someone's looking for, even if it was weeks ago, or knowing when something is different in a room. These things always seemed like they'd be very visual-based memories to me, but I guess memory is memory -- just "seen" in different ways.

On the original topic, I also find myself completely swept away by books. I find them to be a true escape to wherever they lead. I just wish I had more time to read for pleasure.

Fun topic!

I think in pictures or words or sounds, depending on the situation. If I'm reading fiction, I see a movie (though I'd say that I replay or rewrite scenes at later times, rather than replaying a whole film).

If I'm speaking a language I'm learning, I see words, never pictures. Never, ever, pictures.

My preferred way to learn vocabulary and grammar is from a very well-organized textbook or other kind of book, followed by reading magazines or books of increasing complexity. If I'm traveling by bus or train, I read signs as the vehicle passes them. I don't force myself to do this; it just happens naturally. I can spend two hours or more doing this. Then, I pick up the accent by listening to people (I can hear their voices enunciating words). I can replay songs in my head and sometimes the sounds are so vibrant, they almost sound real.

Odd, I guess? Does anyone else think like this?

Val

When I'm writing I hear my own voice in my head. (Like right now.) It helps me sort the information. When I'm unsure of the spelling of a word, I always visualize how it should look and I will hear each letter 'said' as I look at it in my mind. When writing (on the computer) I may actually get caught up in my mind's image of what I'm writing about and not be aware of the words I'm typing... similar to how you drive two miles down the road and suddenly realize that you've been driving and not really aware of what has been going on around you. (Please tell me that others do this while driving! LOL)

Also, your post made me think about the fact that while I always see images or "a movie" when I read, I also hear the voices of the characters. I tend to assign a voice to the characters based on their personalities. If reading a manual or something instructional, I usually hear my own voice. When I recall something I've read, I "see it," and if describing it to someone else, I almost always hear the conversations *and* see the images. I never really realized this until I was reading through these posts.

This makes me want to do a study!

Primarily auditory here. When reading, hear words in my head, same when typing, although when reading fiction can read up to about 800 wpm so can't be hearing individual words then. Can usually tell if someone is telling the truth or not, variations in voice tone. I know who's walking up behind me by footsteps, even in a workplace.

Definitely not making a movie of a book in my head, might not be sure with visual recall if my friend wears glasses or not. Would remember them saying, "I lost my glasses case." Conversely, do frequently form visual pictures of people I've met over the phone, or heard on radio. Part is auditory cues: heavy people's voices are different than thin people's. Part is inaccurate, though sometimes the whole picture is accurate.

An example of being primarily auditory. A place I worked had different buildings on a campus. Walking a path I'd been on scores of times over years, I heard a snapping noise, and looked up. It was an American flag, flapping in the wind. I literally didn't know it was there. Sometimes while I'm moving, visual input seems to be processed unconsciously, while I'm deeply cataloging the sounds around me.

I think our species probably has both types deeply coded in our genes. Our ancestors would have needed some highly visual and some highly auditory individuals in the group to effectively watch out for danger, and remember important information.

Me to a T. I can replay most music I have ever heard in my head. But not conversations. It is like those two things are located in separate places. Books are visualized, too.

Temple Grandin a noted speaker on Autism who is herself autistic has a book called I think "thinking in Picture" or "Speaking in Pictures" If you ever get the chance to hear he speak it is amazing and inspirational. HBO has a movie about her out, hven't seen yett