Brain Building: 7 Basic Logical Tactics

Question 0

PICTURING

Answer 0

Drawing a sketch, diagram (i.e. Venn diagram), illustration, or other visual analogy you can work with.

Venn diagram: overlapping circles used to concretely represent logical conclusions among proprositions.

Time-Line Flow Chart: used to represent relationships among events in time.

Question 1

STEPPING

Answer 1

Attacking the problem in simple steps or stages; dividing the problem into manageable parts; patiently exploring one thing at a time until you can come up with a logical chain of facts and conclusions that give you the answer you need; drawing simple if-then conclusions.

Question 2

REPHRASING

Answer 2

Stating the problem in a different way by using terms that are more convenient for your own understanding.

Question 3

FENCING

Answer 3

Reducing the problem to a smaller scale by making certain simplifying conclusions or throwing out irrelevant considerations; putting a figurative “fence” around it to make it more manageable.

Question 4

ITEMIZING

Answer 4

Simply listing all of the known options, possibilities, situations, arrangements, or combinations that you need to evaluate in finding the solution.

Question 5

CHAINING

Answer 5

Arranging a variety of options and suboptions in the form of a logical chain, a time sequence, or a branching tree-type diagram so you can track down and account for all of the known approaches that look feasible.

Question 6

JUMPING THE TRACK

Answer 6

Stopping to reconsider the whole course of your attack to the problem; starting again with a completely different approach or a different point of view; enlarging the range of options to include unusual or novel ones, sometimes by means of a creative leap.