My experience of spelling words is quite visual (in contrast to my normal thinking style, which suggests that if “thinking styles” exist they are not monolithic), I literally have the visual representation of the word floating in my head. (I can tell it really is visual because I can give details, such as what kind of font—serif—or what color—black—they are the words as they’d appear in a book.)
I’d also describe my spelling skill as “automatic”, i.e. I can usually instantly spot whether a word is “right” or “not right”, I absolutely cannot stand misspellings (including mine, I have the hardest time when writing fast because I must instantly go back and correct any typos, rather than let them be), and they tend to leap out of the page; most people appear to have an ability to ignore typos that I lack. (For instance, I often get a kick out of spotting typos on the freakin’ front page of national magazines, and when I point them out I mostly get blank stares or “Oh, you’re right”—people just don’t notice!)
After a bit of self-experimentation, I’ve concluded that I almost (but not quite) completely lack any visual experience accompanying anything verbal. Even when I self-prompt, telling myself to spell a word, nothing really appears by default (though I can make an image of the word appear with a bit of focus, it’s very difficult to try to ‘read’ off of it).
Not generally, no, for either fiction or non-fiction. This may be why i’ve never been able to relate to the sense of getting ‘lost’ inside a book—they’ve never been as evocative for me as they seem to for others.
My experience of spelling words is quite visual (in contrast to my normal thinking style, which suggests that if “thinking styles” exist they are not monolithic), I literally have the visual representation of the word floating in my head. (I can tell it really is visual because I can give details, such as what kind of font—serif—or what color—black—they are the words as they’d appear in a book.)
I’d also describe my spelling skill as “automatic”, i.e. I can usually instantly spot whether a word is “right” or “not right”, I absolutely cannot stand misspellings (including mine, I have the hardest time when writing fast because I must instantly go back and correct any typos, rather than let them be), and they tend to leap out of the page; most people appear to have an ability to ignore typos that I lack. (For instance, I often get a kick out of spotting typos on the freakin’ front page of national magazines, and when I point them out I mostly get blank stares or “Oh, you’re right”—people just don’t notice!)
I’d self-describe as adept at language.
(ETA: upvoted for a luminous question.)
After a bit of self-experimentation, I’ve concluded that I almost (but not quite) completely lack any visual experience accompanying anything verbal. Even when I self-prompt, telling myself to spell a word, nothing really appears by default (though I can make an image of the word appear with a bit of focus, it’s very difficult to try to ‘read’ off of it).
I wonder how typical (or atypical) this is.
quite typical.
Do you get any visual images when you read?
Not generally, no, for either fiction or non-fiction. This may be why i’ve never been able to relate to the sense of getting ‘lost’ inside a book—they’ve never been as evocative for me as they seem to for others.