I know that there are other folks out there who rarely think in pictures, but think in words instead. You know who you are.
Does the fact that you don’t easily visualize things make it difficult for you to follow written instructions to make something/do something that don’t include pictures?
I’ve found that to be the case when I’ve looked up instructions for how to perform various exercises I’ve never seen done before and when trying to understand tutorials like this one.
Not really. I can “visualize” things if I need to (and try hard enough), but normally I just understand. Don’t really need pictures in my head, the voices take good care of me.
Picture instructions sometimes must get translated to word instructions before they make much sense, however. Kind of the opposite of what you’re talking about, I think. I don’t know if it matters, but I’m an engineer type and have very little artistic talent.
Jeesh, I don’t know. I think I work well in both mediums. Sometimes pictures are helpful: sometimes not.
I’m confused about the question though. 
No. It makes it difficult for me to follow diagrams without verbal instructions, though. I don’t really need the pictures. I need the words.
Bah, I dislike this horrible trend for instructions to be in little pictures. I find that the pictures just don’t always make sense (not that I can think of a good example right now, of course).
I even have trouble using my door buzzer thing because where I would like a useful little hint like “open” to let someone into the building, instead it has a little picture of a key. And, yes, you’d think that one out to be obvious enough, but I would still prefer words.
Actually, yes.
I think a lot better in words than in pictures, and I definitely like it when there are little diagrams included with things. Especially when it’s something like knitting that involves tying knots or manipulating something in a less-than-obvious way.
They’re pointless without the words, though.
Not too sure what the question is… people who “think in words” would have an easier time with “written” instructions viz “drawn” instructions, wouldn’t you think?
I’m torn, 'cause what you say makes sense, but in actual practice, **elfkin477 *is right - for me, anyway. I think in words, I have a relatively poor visual-spacial ability, yet I can put things together best if there are pictures with the word instructions. It’s as if I can’t make the picture in my head from the words myself, and need to see it on the paper before I can get it in my head. I still translate those pictures back into words for the actual assembly (“okay, so the front piece has to have this ninety degree angle with this extra knobby bit, and the back piece the acute angle, so this goes here, and that goes over there…”), though.
If I had to choose between just words and just pictures, I’d take just pictures, for assembling things, anyway. I can provide my own narration from that.
*Although I can pack a car tighter than a virgin’s first night in a whorehouse, so maybe that’s not entirely accurate - once I have that mental picture, I can rotate, flip and manipulate it in my head just fine. It’s just getting a solid mental picture that takes me a little longer than some people.
I rock at spatial visualization and I suck at playing sports. 
Much of the time the words aren’t good enough. If you can’t picture thing easily in your mind you need a very clear description of the objects/movements to know exactly what you’re supposed to do - it takes a really good writer to acomplish that, and most people who write instructions aren’t great writers. As Whynot said, we’re not making the pictures in our heads as we read the instuctions.
In my case, it makes it very difficult to deal with trainers. Bowling, for instance, is a physical activity. And a good trainer will tell you what you have to do to improve your game. Since most people (in my experience) have different approaches, releases, etc., most trainers can’t actually show you what you have to change, so they tell you.
Recently one trainer gave me a short essay by a famous professional bowler and, finally, I started visualizing instead of just hearing the instructions. It makes all the difference in the world.
The prime example of this has to be the airline safety cards that they put in your seat pocket.
I don’t mind the pictures in and of themselves, but they need to have written instructions to go with them, or they are almost totally incomprehensible.