Mental imagery strength and type

[Peter Deadpan]

This is a subject which has fascinated me for awhile now. I have a fairly weak mind's eye. If you tell me to picture a wooden swing hanging from a tree, I can do it, but it's not like looking at a photograph. It's sort of narrow and vague. I either see a rough example of one, or I can zoom in on some finer details (like the wood grain), but not really both at the same time. If you tell me to picture a mountain covered in pine trees, I can do that a bit easier because it's something that I've actually seen, so I might recall a photo I took on vacation. If you ask me to create a fantasy landscape, I suppose I can sort of do it, piece by piece, but it's not something I excel at by any means and I suspect I would mostly draw existing examples I've seen elsewhere for inspiration. Regardless of what I picture, it's never crystal clear or vibrantly colorful; it's usually somewhat vague and lacking nuance. The only time I see vivid imagery is when I am lying in bed at night. Occasionally my mind will spontaneously supply me with beautiful patterns (like mandalas) or works of art it has created. I have no control over this and enjoy it deeply when it occurs, but I would never be able to recall what I saw at a later time. Additionally, I struggle with remembering people's faces, even those very close to me. I can do it, but it's not crisp and usually utilizes images I have seen before, like a photo or a memory/impression, like sitting on the couch next to said person.

How do you experience mental imagery? Do you experience it at all? Some people lack the ability to do so, which I find tragic. Also, if you could state your MBTI type, I'd appreciate it.

Here is the article:
Some people can't see any pictures in their imagination, and here's why

 

[phoenix31]

INFP. I do not have a good memory of images that I've seen or people's faces, but I have a super vivid imagination when it comes to creating my own images inside my head or following a guided visualization.

 

[Hiraeth]

I can picture things.in my mind, but if I try to remember something actual it's usually pretty grainy. I'm better at remembering how I felt overall, but I can remember people's faces really well. On the other hand, my sister's boyfriend has a photographic memory and can remember everything in fine detail as if his mind was a digital camera able to take snapshots of real life events. I'm jealous because he never had to try in school since he could remember everything as if his mind was a cheat sheet all the damn time. That would have been a major help when I was in school and even now for my art projects for photo references.

However, I'm really good at creating stories in my mind in pretty good detail as if it was a movie or a TV show. I'm happy I can at least do that. It's a wonderful form of entertainment and also as a platform for idealistic pursuits. 👍

 

[Smilephantomhive]

When I day dream, there are kinda vague images, but I place more emphasis on the action than anything. My dreams are extremely vivid if that means anything. Depends on how focused I am I think. Usually I would have day dreams and half listen to the teacher in class, so not much focus there.

On a side note, I once did some guided visual, imaginary meditation cause I was bored, and you were supposed to imagine a library, and without the speaker telling me to do anything like this I found a book, it was a personality type book, and I threw it out the window lol.

I am better at remembering sounds than images. Visual learning is probably my lowest out of the three even though it is very useful lol.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

Random: I don't always remember my dreams well, but I frequently read text in them, so that is a fine attention to detail I suppose.

 

[Population: 1]

Random: I don't always remember my dreams well, but I frequently read text in them, so that is a fine attention to detail I suppose.

Odd you should mention that because I don’t remember seeing street signs or books in my dreams.

You seem to be able to visualize well at night in bed. Perhaps it’s because your mind can focus in an environment that isn’t cluttered with other distractions. Your minds eye is vying for your attention and is in direct competition with five senses streaming constant input during the course of your day.

I can picture things in fair detail and with some elements of action to them but I find especially when I’m writing my mind wants to skip over descriptive narrative (obviously that presents a major problem if you’re trying to envelop a reader in a story) and skip to dialogue and action. I have to focus really hard on supplying adequate descriptions. Also I need absolute quiet and solitude to write.

 

[Yama]

Mine is always super fuzzy and not detailed which is why 'good memory' si descriptions trigger the fuck out of me

 

[Yama]

And I know from experience and lucid dreaming that my dreams are extremely detailed and life like, but after I wake up they immediately become fuzzy in my memory when I recall them.

 

[Frosty]

Ive always felt that this relates to drawing. Being able to visualize- accurately, and focus on different aspects of that visualization helps you to accurately be able to draw the details and proportions of whatever you are trying to create.

Ifs why I always preferred 3D art and art that wasnt based on... just recreation. Because I really... Im not very good at it. I am good at working while going. Not snapshotting and recreating a snapshot.

But I do have very very vivid dreams. Lucid dreams for sure. But a lot of the time- while it CAN be like a movie in my head- its not always visual seeming. Its not like really just sitting back and watching a movie- its like being IN the movie and feeling and I dunno. Not exactly the same thing as visualization I dont feel. Its more than that

 

[á´…eparted]

My interal imagery is somewhat odd because it's very scintillating/staccato in nature, but also very easy for me to follow. In many ways, I can "fill in the blanks" intuitively with what my minds eye doesn't pick up on visually/literally. As an example, I can rotate, invert, flip, etc 3D images in my head with ease, and use that information, but I don't literally fluidly see it. A lot of this minds eye stuff is almost like an emotion, or a 6th sense that doesn't exist. I simply know it and recognize it for what it is. As a result my inner images and stuff can be very rich, it just comes from many components.

Maps are sort of an example. When I navigate somewhere, I will stare at a map for a bit (less than a minute) taking in what it looks like. Then, I will go take the path that I need to get there and will not need to look at it again, and do so fluidly with no mistakes unless I hit an unlabeled 1-way street or something. The thing is, when I am going I don't literally see the map in my head. I will get tiny millisecond flashes of what it looks like in small sections as I go, and those get translated in to that 6th-sense-ish feeling that I simply know. Things will just feel correct and I'll know it is the correct path.

*shrug* it's hard to explain but this sort of wordless and imageless area of my mind is really the centerpiece of how I think. I am highly conceptual/relational in thought, and I actually don't have an inner monolog either. I instead have flashes and patches of words here and there.

 

[Smilephantomhive]

My interal imagery is somewhat odd because it's very scintillating/staccato in nature, but also very easy for me to follow. In many ways, I can "fill in the blanks" intuitively with what my minds eye doesn't pick up on visually/literally. As an example, I can rotate, invert, flip, etc 3D images in my head with ease, and use that information, but I don't literally fluidly see it. A lot of this minds eye stuff is almost like an emotion, or a 6th sense that doesn't exist. I simply know it and recognize it for what it is. As a result my inner images and stuff can be very rich, it just comes from many components.

Maps are sort of an example. When I navigate somewhere, I will stare at a map for a bit (less than a minute) taking in what it looks like. Then, I will go take the path that I need to get there and will not need to look at it again, and do so fluidly with no mistakes unless I hit an unlabeled 1-way street or something. The thing is, when I am going I don't literally see the map in my head. I will get tiny millisecond flashes of what it looks like in small sections as I go, and those get translated in to that 6th-sense-ish feeling that I simply know. Things will just feel correct and I'll know it is the correct path.

*shrug* it's hard to explain but this sort of wordless and imageless area of my mind is really the centerpiece of how I think. I am highly conceptual/relational in thought, and I actually don't have an inner monolog either. I instead have flashes and patches of words here and there.

I think I might know but idk. That may have been what I meant by thinking about actions, but for all I know we could be talking about two totally different things.

 

[deathwarmedup]

If you tell me to picture a wooden swing hanging from a tree, I can do it, but it's not like looking at a photograph. It's sort of narrow and vague. I either see a rough example of one, or I can zoom in on some finer details (like the wood grain), but not really both at the same time. If you tell me to picture a mountain covered in pine trees, I can do that a bit easier because it's something that I've actually seen, so I might recall a photo I took on vacation. If you ask me to create a fantasy landscape, I suppose I can sort of do it, piece by piece, but it's not something I excel at by any means and I suspect I would mostly draw existing examples I've seen elsewhere for inspiration. Regardless of what I picture, it's never crystal clear or vibrantly colorful; it's usually somewhat vague and lacking nuance.

How good is my mental imagery? I don't know. The above sounds as close as I can get to describing it.

I don't consider myself creative, although some have (it's opinion). Some of my dreams can feature the most stunning and beautiful imagery though. Almost Tarkovskyan, and with a metaphorical creativity I would never ordinarily be capable of. This is why I sometimes wonder if everyone is inherently creative but that it is suppressed in many. I think it is suppressed in authoritarian, duty, security-oriented personalities.

I type as ISTJ. Nearly everyone I've known online or off has thought I was a clear iNtuitive. You decide.

(A professor at my psychology dept 10 years ago was conducting experimentally robust work to show that what we feel to be mental images are actually produced in the brain as highly-abstracted representations that we would not recognise. When you visualise an "E", the brain is not responding to that image but to a highly codified representation of it. Or something like that - -- i totally forget the details. I met the guy a few times. Clear INTJ, and brilliant.)

 

[Peter Deadpan]

[MENTION=17218]deathwarmedup[/MENTION]

I love the video. I could "feel it" when the ceiling fell. Very Sp/Sx.

It's interesting that you view creativity as such, because I very often say that I am quite repressed creatively and expressively, and that it has led to identity issues and a particular sort of detachment from self. Thanks for you input.

 

[Madboot]

I have very clear mental images. I also remember most things in a visual fashion. I once shocked my wife by recalling what everyone at a ten person dinner had ordered at the restaurant we were at. It's not because I remembered them ordering, I remember the images of that dinner. It was about 2 years after the incident. My understanding is that Ni doms usually think in imagery though.

 

[LucieCat]

I mostly have mental images when I'm reading. Written word just drums them up for me.

Most of my thoughts tend to be words and paragraphs. Or feelings gathered empathetically. My imagination about real word possibilities does not typically have pictures. However, if I'm creating a story of imagining the fantastic, there are images.

I can recall mental images fairly well though if asked. Memories are also connected to mental images or almost video like clips.

I was once talking to an ISFP friend about this. He said that he has very strong mental imagery. He admits that sometimes it's a bit difficult to assign words to the images in his mind because they are so strong for him.

I don't know if it's necessarily type related though.

 

[biohazard]

ENTJ/LIE-Ni

I remember every dream I've ever had. I also see auras and colors around people. I'm highly visual so asking me to paint a detailed picture of anything is no problem for me. I think a lot of it has to do with my creative upbringing and artistic nature. You can also ask me a date and I can tell you in vivid detail about that day.

 

[Yara the Corpse]

Omfg fine details are the worst, I probably willingly forget them. I have a fear of corrupting my memory with useless details actually XD not that it's realistic, I just hate wasting memory on such things.

The general feeling or emotion that comes with an experience is good enough. I just like to re-feel memories without the visualization.

I relate most with what Hard says. I can't say that I live by feelings enough, it's PURE feelings. No thinking, no remembering, I feel it. I can let my unconscious do most of the work for me.

 

[Yama]

ENTJ/LIE-Ni

I remember every dream I've ever had. I also see auras and colors around people. I'm highly visual so asking me to paint a detailed picture of anything is no problem for me. I think a lot of it has to do with my creative upbringing and artistic nature. You can also ask me a date and I can tell you in vivid detail about that day.

do you have a photographic memory?

 

[biohazard]

do you have a photographic memory?

Yeah, something like that. I think they call it "eidetic memory" though cause I can recall my memories and experiences more vividly than like walls of text.

 

[The Outsider]

This is a subject which has fascinated me for awhile now. I have a fairly weak mind's eye. If you tell me to picture a wooden swing hanging from a tree, I can do it, but it's not like looking at a photograph. It's sort of narrow and vague. I either see a rough example of one, or I can zoom in on some finer details (like the wood grain), but not really both at the same time.

It's a skill that can be developed quite well with practice. Something you could try is to imagine different types of sensory data pertaining to the object/scene that you are imagining. It even helps to verbally reinforce those sensations, i.e. "I see a wooden swing hanging from a tree, I feel the coarseness of the ropes and the hardness of the wood (ehehe), I hear the sound of wind and the creaking of the tree, I smell the grass, I feel the wind in my face, the grass tickles my feet, the swing hurts my butt" and so on.