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Ganondox
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02 Jan 2012, 12:51 am

Do you think a hyperverbal/hypovisual thinker or a hypervisual/hypoverbal thinker would find mathematics easier? If you think some branches are more of one mindset then the other, then please say so.


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Tuttle
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02 Jan 2012, 12:55 am

What I can tell you is that I'm neither a verbal nor a visual thinker and I'm very much a math person.



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02 Jan 2012, 1:00 am

I'm a visual thinker and I'm no math person.



169Kitty
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02 Jan 2012, 1:20 am

I got this from a learning disabilities website "Non-verbal intelligence is important in understanding math calculation and geometry" and

"Nonverbal intelligence is important because it enables students to analyze and solve complex problems without relying upon or being limited by language abilities. Many mathematical concepts, physics problems, computer science tasks, and science problems require strong reasoning skills."

I would say it's mostly visual, especially geometry.



Ganondox
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02 Jan 2012, 1:33 am

I'm not sure what type of thinker I am, but I am very much a math person. The math class I found the hardest at the time I took it was Algebra I ( concept-wise, not grade wise), and the easiest was Geometry. I'm in second year Calculus right now, and I'm screwed as the grade is entirely based on timed tests and I don't perform as well on timed tests.


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Jp896
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02 Jan 2012, 1:41 am

Quote:
I got this from a learning disabilities website "Non-verbal intelligence is important in understanding math calculation and geometry" and

"Nonverbal intelligence is important because it enables students to analyze and solve complex problems without relying upon or being limited by language abilities. Many mathematical concepts, physics problems, computer science tasks, and science problems require strong reasoning skills."

I would say it's mostly visual, especially geometry.


I agree that a lot of math is visual ,but it can also be equally verbal as well. Having a good understanding of definitions can be extremely helpful in calculus and a lot of proofs in real analysis require no visual abilities i.e "Principles of Real Analysis" by Walter Rudin. Some branches of math can be looked at in a totally abstract way. Here's a quote I find interesting "God gave us the integers, all else is the work of man" Leopold Kronecker



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02 Jan 2012, 1:43 am

Geometry, trig, vector calculus, and a few other things rely heavily on visual thinking. Algebra, general calculus, and the like relies more on mathematical reasoning (I guess this would be more verbal?). All of it is completely interrelated though. With that said, I don't think any one form of thinking has an advantage over the other in most any area of math...99% of math (at least, disregarding the super-advanced stuff) involves memorizing a set of rules and/or formulas and just following and applying them. Some people are able to absorb it all in a heartbeat, others may struggle for years trying to solve 2+2, its just how we're wired I guess!



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02 Jan 2012, 3:54 am

Stargazer43 wrote:
Geometry, trig, vector calculus, and a few other things rely heavily on visual thinking. Algebra, general calculus, and the like relies more on mathematical reasoning (I guess this would be more verbal?). All of it is completely interrelated though. With that said, I don't think any one form of thinking has an advantage over the other in most any area of math...99% of math (at least, disregarding the super-advanced stuff) involves memorizing a set of rules and/or formulas and just following and applying them. Some people are able to absorb it all in a heartbeat, others may struggle for years trying to solve 2+2, its just how we're wired I guess!


that pretty much sums up everything i was going to say



pete1061
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02 Jan 2012, 5:05 am

I'm an extremely visual person, and I love math, it comes naturally to me.
I don't see anything verbal about math. I believe that by approaching math from a verbal perspective, that will only hinder one's understanding of mathematics.

When I think of numbers, I don't think of the characters "3',"4","5" etc... or the words "three","four", or "five... I imagine visual, geometric representations of those numbers. I picture graphs & animations of mathematical operations.

I have a hard time understanding how people find math so difficult. I guess I just take my talent for granted.


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TPE2
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02 Jan 2012, 6:40 am

There is scientific evidence (instead of only pop psychology) that there is omething as "visual thinkers" and "verbal thinkers"?

Factor analysis have really identified a thing called "verbal IQ", what could be ientified with "verbal thinking" but I don't know if the other sub-sclae ("performance IQ") could be identified with visual thinking.



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02 Jan 2012, 6:46 am

TPE2 wrote:
There is scientific evidence (instead of only pop psychology) that there is omething as "visual thinkers" and "verbal thinkers"?

Factor analysis have really identified a thing called "verbal IQ", what could be ientified with "verbal thinking" but I don't know if the other sub-sclae ("performance IQ") could be identified with visual thinking.


I don't know about pop psychology, but after having read numerous accounts on this forum, read Temple Grandin's descriptions of how she thinks, and read several accounts from other people, it does seem that a lot of people have brains that focus on thinking in particular ways. I primarily think visually and I barely think verbally. I have very little verbal working memory, despite the fact that my writing implies a high level of verbal capability, but is a consequence of a hyperlexic childhood.



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02 Jan 2012, 6:50 am

No one answer can be given to the question, I think. I also think more abstract math is usually more difficult to model visually, and visual thinkers may be more efficient with less abstract math problems, eg: a simple operation involving very large numbers.



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02 Jan 2012, 7:36 am

Australien wrote:
No one answer can be given to the question, I think. I also think more abstract math is usually more difficult to model visually, and visual thinkers may be more efficient with less abstract math problems, eg: a simple operation involving very large numbers.


I am fine with arithmetic and geometry, somewhat worse with algebra, and really bad with calculus on up. I have never taken trigonomotry as I couldn't pass the prerequisites, so I can't say iether way. I find it interesting that people say that math is abstract, but the idea of having a quantity is actually fairly concrete (that is, you can have five apples, or five cats, or five chairs). It is abstract to a point, but not nearly as abstract as higher math.



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02 Jan 2012, 8:09 am

IIRC, mathematics comes under verbal ability on the standardized intelligence tests.

If that's what you mean. It makes sense too, as math is a language, whereas shapes and patterns by themselves don't require any verbal knowledge to deduce; square block goes in square hole, and it gets more and more complicated. People sometimes mistake spatial ability for mathematics.



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02 Jan 2012, 9:17 am

Some fields are visual , some aren't... I think the verbal part is included in explaining ideas and will always be there , just look at the paragraphs you see when trying to explain the Riemann Integral.

The best thing to do is to switch on and off modes of thinking for the best situation.


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Verdandi
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02 Jan 2012, 10:50 am

Dillogic wrote:
IIRC, mathematics comes under verbal ability on the standardized intelligence tests.

If that's what you mean. It makes sense too, as math is a language, whereas shapes and patterns by themselves don't require any verbal knowledge to deduce; square block goes in square hole, and it gets more and more complicated. People sometimes mistake spatial ability for mathematics.


Which is an interesting categorization of mathematics when non-verbal learning disorder (NVLD) can impact one's ability to do math.