Thinking in pictures: I grew up riding dirt bikes,
snowmobiles, mountain bikes, and otherwise going solo off the beaten trail...now I tend to be visual. I believe it had to do with watching for visual clues when out in the middle of nowhere to find my way home, or else I would get lost and risk a scene out of Deliverance. I do this everywhere now, large cities, airports, hotels...its a form of reassurance and it helps me to orientate myself in chaotic or unfamiliar circumstances as I would think is the case for others that way.
When you say you think textually, what does that mean? What does thinking in words mean...you pictures the words, the actual form of the letters? How is this helpful?