Question for NTs about how you think

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It seems likely that the linked study is correct that using an inner voice could counter executive dysfunction. I think I use one when I'm trying complex tasks like cooking or cleaning. I'm interested in the misunderstandings that would arise if you were inner voicing the whole time.

Figured this might be relevant:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR1IZJXc6d8[/youtube]

It's about ADHD and executive function, but both visual thinking and inner monologues are addressed.

+1

I was listening to a radio show on the nature of language once, and a woman was on who'd had a stroke.
She said the first inkling she had that something was wrong was that all her internal "chatter" went silent.

And I had no idea what she was talking about.

I'm still not sure entirely what it means, to have language in your head.
I don't get the notion of hearing or seeing absent of external stimuli.
Is the experience of an "internal narration" not one of "seeing" or "hearing"?

I think in concepts.

Are you able to replay memories in your own mind that involve conversations? The inner voice is just like that, only it is your voice, rather than another persons. Of course it is not really "hearing" just like using your imagination to picture things is not really "seeing".

I think I understand what is meant by thinking in concepts, as most thoughts begin as concepts but my brain instinctively wants to turn them into sights and sounds. It would be impossible for me to turn these thoughts into actions or plan anything at all (such as this sentence) without playing it out in my head first.

This process can go awry though, as I often have difficulty saying exactly what I want, as their seems to be a disconnect between the concepts and verbalisation, such as words out of place, inappropriate words or forgetting words.

My experience may help fracc, IDK. (White matter is corrupted in ADHD.)



I have an inner code that is not translated into "hearing" with the minds eye, or seeing with the figurative "eye." There is not a "rehearsing" to do something. It is ad lib, from subconscious to action in real time.

When I think, such a writing this sentence, an instinctive picture surfaced about the concept of fraac, as man with glasses, slightly long sandy blond hair, coupled with a feeling of isolation in his life, via an emotion.

When I type any replies, there is a feeling that is translated into text in real time. The "feeling" is a semi imagery language along with a little verbal narrative, all riding on an emotion, that moves directly into text.

This is what I do too.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj4y0EUlU-Y[/youtube]

This may not apply but it may be interesting to some.

Thanks for that. Always interesting to listen to Feynman.

Yes, but I don't see or hear anything in my mind...I just remember the concepts-place, time, substance of conversation, etc.


My thoughts are never translated into words unless I need to convey them to someone else.

For those who claim to think in concepts is there even a minor, subtle sensory feeling?

I want to know this too... my brain is starting to overheat here, trying to visualize what a "concept" is

Is the voice of the internal narrative the same voice that speaks to a person negatively when a person has an anxiety disorder or maybe depression, like telling the person that she is worthless and unlovable, or like telling the person that a specific bad thing is going to happen if she does not perform an OCD ritual?

I have never really understood what people meant when they said that they had intrusive thoughts. Are the intrusive thoughts created by this internal narrative voice? It makes sense to me that they would be, but I am only guessing. I have never had the intrusive thoughts myself. Can someone enlighten me on this?

For me, anxiety takes the form of a physical sensation, like flutterings in my abdomen and faster heart rate, but maybe that is more like nervousness. I am not sure what feeling is anxiety, but I know for sure that none of the possible feelings associated with it come with verbal thoughts. Or any other thoughts either. They are just bunches of physical sensations.

Yes, it's the same voice, it makes the symptoms worse because it increases the emotions and you don't know or forget how to shut it up and it is easy to get carried away by it.

Last edited by Doubutsu on 28 Jan 2012, 8:18 pm, edited 4 times in total.

they are voiced by the internal voice - yes, they are most comparable to a knee jerk reaction, you know like when a doctor is testing your reflexes amd he/she bangs your knee and you legs jerks up? It's automatic and unavoidable.

For people with OCD and intrusive thoughts, their inner voice can be their worst enemy.

As for how my inner voice sounds, it normally doesn't sound like much of anything, just a voice that definitely does not sound like my actual voice, but with a small amount of effort make it sound like absolutely anything, and sometimes it automatically sounds like some sound I'm hearing; the voice is in the sound.

This was my feeling too and then a therapist told me I had an "anxiety disorder". I had to look up in the internet, what it meant. Now I am sure about the feeling of anxiety, but there are so many "feelings" where I am just lost. It is like until the age of 34 (and now I am 37) I could not define a "feeling", but still I felt something without a name. By reading in the internet about "anxiety" I could relate to it. And I am still learning to give a name to this physical and mental sensations I am experiencing and therapy is helping me.
Edit: I have a psychologist specialized in autism. This is helping. Before I had a "normal" therapist, that was counter-productive, because the aim was "to fit into society".

Last edited by Eloa on 28 Jan 2012, 8:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.