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LSAT TESTWELL > LSAT Overview/Logic > Flashcards

LSAT Overview/Logic Flashcards

1
Q

“Standardized”

A

The LSAT is always exactly the same: A score of X on one test means the same thing as a score of X on another (+/- margin of error of 3.5 points).

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2
Q

“LSAT Formulas”

A

Everything is consistent. For example:

Number of questions
Levels of difficulty
Topics of passages
Question types
Ways the “right” answers relate to the stimulus
Trap answer types
Definition of “conclusion”, “assumption”, “infer/imply”, “unless”, “or”, “explicit/implicit”

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3
Q

“If it ain’t broke…”

A

“…don’t fix it”

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4
Q

Passages have recently gotten…

A

Harder:

Longer passages
More technical content
More tough questions (2-3 good answers)

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5
Q

Raw score I’m targeting

A

Miss 4-6 questions total

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6
Q

The LSAT is NOT a test of…

A

“Logical reasoning”, “reading comprehension”, or “analytical reasoning”

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7
Q

“Credited response”

A

The LSAT’s term for “best answer”, and an implicit recognition that it is not necessarily objectively “right”

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8
Q

“LSAT thinking is…”

A

Precise, mechanical, literal, unimaginative, superficial, uncreative, inflexible.

“I will NEVER interpret!”
“I will ONLY match!”

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9
Q

“Distractors”

A

The LSAT term for 2nd-best answers, deliberately designed to mislead you

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10
Q

“Best of five” principle

A
  1. Good answers you have to eliminate to get to better answers
  2. Question with five bad answers, have to pick the “least worst”
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11
Q

“Precision principle”

and its three exceptions

A

LSAT is primarily a test of your ability to “match,” with dictionary-definition precision, the meaning of words and phrases in the answers with equivalent words and phrases in the stimulus

Can’t know which words and phrases will be crucial until you get to the answers, but may get better at predicting which words will turn out to be crucial

Also need precision on grammatical features, e.g. tense of verb and singular/plural of nouns

Exception 1: 
LSAT definitions ("imply", "infer", "or", "unless", "conclusion", "assumption", "flaw") ALWAYS trump real world definitions.

Exception 2: (applies primarily to Args)

a. Recognize errors in reasoning when you see them (evaluate/manipulate, flaw, strengthener/weakener, parallel flaw, relevance questions)
b. Impart a limited, judicious amount of common sense in assessing the statistical probability of a conclusion’s being true, given the evidence

Exception 3:
Colloquialisms, idioms, irony, sarcasm

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12
Q

Predicting

A

Working the problem “forwards”

Many, though far from all, answers in Args and Passages are highly predictable, and doing so works better for most people most of the time

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13
Q

“Bad attitude”

A

Answers are guilty until proven innocent

Look for reasons to eliminate each answer, not support it

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14
Q

3 basic ways to avoid “distractors”

A
  1. Predict the answer
  2. Have a “bad” attitude
  3. Know the “distractor families”
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15
Q

3 major “distractor” families

A
  1. Misquotes
  2. Not in arg or passage
  3. Comes from wrong place in stimulus
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16
Q

“Misquote”

A

A precision mismatch or imperfect paraphrase; any answer that has even just one word that is further from a dictionary-perfect match to the stimulus content than some other answer

Most frequent distractor family in Args and Passages

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17
Q

“Not in the argument or passage”

A

Answers that are not in the stimulus at all, but come from real-world associations

Second most frequent distractor family in Args; Third most frequent in Passages

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18
Q

“Wrong part of the argument”

A

Answers that come from the wrong part of the argument or wrong place in the passage

Third most frequent distractor family in Args; Second most frequent in Passages

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19
Q

Validity/Credibility

A

Correct evidence-conclusion relationship; evidence logically and/or reasonably leads to the conclusion

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20
Q

“Most LSAT arguments are…”

A

Flawed. And most LSAT arguments are more flawed than you initially think.

“Assume flawed until proven valid.”

Some arguments are actually valid, almost always in the “parallel reasoning” or “similar arguments” questions

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21
Q

“Actual factual knowledge”

A

Type of knowledge that you’re not permitted to bring in, as it goes beyond the “common sense zone”

22
Q

“Bounds” or “scope”

A

The limits to what topics/issues/wording are allowed into the discussion in an argument (or, less commonly, passage)

23
Q

18 distinct Puzzle types

A

ORDERING (90+%)

  1. Absolute (e.g. P1 of PT17; WB3 pg. 3)
  2. Relative (e.g. CB4 pg. 24)
  3. Schedule (e.g. WB3 pg. 28, or Dr. Yamata puzzle)
  4. Table (e.g. WB5 pg. 36)
  5. Multiple

GROUPING (70+%)

  1. Sorting (3-to-1 more likely than Selection)
    a. 2-Bin (e.g. WB4 pg. 7; occ./unocc. apartments)
    b. 3-5 Bin (e.g. P2 of PT17)
  2. Selection
    a. Selection Only
    b. Selection Plus Categories (e.g. P1 of PT42?)

MATCHING (50+%)

  1. One-Issue (e.g. P4 of PT42; CB5 pg. 36; Aunt Agatha’s chocolates)
  2. Two-Issue (e.g. WB4 pg. 4; CB5 pg. 38; Linda’s hiring positions)
  3. Assignment (e.g. P3, P4 of PT17; WB4 pg. 6; Andrew and Patricia’s tasks/day)
  4. Multi-Issue

HYBRID

  1. Two-Way
    a. Selection / Ordering
    b. Selection / Sorting
    c. Sorting / Ordering
    d. Ordering / Conceptual Mapping
    e. Other
  2. Multi-Way

MAPPING

  1. Connection (e.g. WB5 pg. 38?)
    a. One-Way
    b. Multi-Way
  2. Conceptual (If-Then Networks)
  3. Physical (e.g. WB5 pg. 37)

CODING

  1. Placement Only
  2. Placement + Movement

NUMBER-CRUNCH

NEW

24
Q

"”Reading comprehension””

A

Passages section is about mechanically finding and matching the answers hidden in the passage

Requires “comprehending” only 5-10% of passage’s content

25
Q

Passage question types

A

PRIMARY P

  1. Primary point
  2. Primary purpose
  3. Best title

FACT-FINDING (Detail)

  1. Single fact
  2. Multi fact (All except)

INFERENCE

  1. Formula 1
  2. Formula 2
  3. Formula 3
  4. Formula 4

LOGIC

  1. Why Mentioned
    a. One-Line
    b. Multi-Line
    c. Paragraph
  2. Structure / Organization / Method
    a. Passage
    b. Paragraph
    c. Line(s)
  3. Argument Q-Types
    a. Weaken
    b. Strengthen
    c. Assumption
  4. Word / Phrase Usage
    a. Meaning (Op def)
    b. Meaning (Context)
    c. Replacement

APPLICATION

  1. Within Passage (Author)
  2. Within Passage (Character)
  3. Beyond Passage
  4. Text Extension

TONE/ATTITUDE

  1. Author’s
    a. Whole Topic
    b. Detail
  2. Character’s
    a. Whole Topic
    b. Detail
  3. Author Most Values
26
Q

Arguments question types

A

UNDERSTANDING (understand the arg)

  1. Inference
    a. Must be true
    b. Must be false
    c. Implicit conclusion
    d. Argument completion
  2. Backwards Inference
    a. Reconciliation
    b. Explanation
  3. Principle
    a. Principle classic
    b. Applied principle
  4. Dialogue Questions
    a. Point of disagreement
    b. How misunderstood

ANALYSIS (break arg down into its component parts)

  1. Conclusion
  2. Assumption
  3. Method
    a. Method of argument
    b. Role played (whole arg)
    c. Role played (other idea(s))
  4. Parallel Reasoning
    a. Similar argument
    b. Similar flaw
    c. Similar principle

EVALUATE/MANIPULATE (judging, altering the arg)

  1. Flaw
  2. Strengthener
    a. Generic strengthener
    b. 100% strengthener
    c. Principle lite
  3. Weakener
  4. Relevance
  5. Direct judgment
27
Q

“Only after your accuracy rates are ___ …”

A

“…at or above your target levels, should you even begin thinking about speed.”

(My accuracy rates for the pretest are 88-89%. I want those to be very near 99%.)

28
Q

“If-then’s don’t…”

A

“…reverse.”
I will never reverse an if-then.

“…negate.”
I will never negate an if-then.

29
Q

“If-then’s ALWAYS…”

A

“…contrapose.”

I will always contrapose an if-then.

30
Q

“Sufficiency”

A

The LSAT name for an “if-then” relationship.

Contrapose: reverse and negate

(Remember sufficiency =/= causation.)

31
Q

“Necessity”

A

The LSAT name for an “only if-then” relationship.

Drop the only and reverse.
Then contrapose.

32
Q

“Mutual exclusion”

A

The LSAT name for an “if-then not” relationship.

33
Q

“Mutual inclusion”

A

The LSAT name for an “if and only if-then” (IFF) relationship.

34
Q

“Infer”/”inference”

A

“MUST be true”

35
Q

“Imply”/”implication”

A

“MUST be true”

36
Q

“If it is EXPLICIT…”

A

“…it is also IMPLICIT” !!!

“…can be INFERRED” !!!

37
Q

Inference Questions (signals, answer formulas, credit response characteristics)

A

Signals:
What “follows from” the stimulus
What does the stimulus “provide the greatest support for”
What would “most likely be true given” the stimulus

Answer Formulas:
1. Paraphrase
2. Logical Translation
3. Connection of 2-5 different lines
   a. content cross-references (diff lines on same topic)
   b. logical combinations/relationships
   c. "proximity" connections (physical adjacency)
(or any combination of the above!)

Credit Response Characteristics:

  1. A “Must be true” just must be true, it doesn’t have to be the “whole” truth
  2. Credited responses MAY mention things that are out of bounds but ONLY in negative/exclusionary terms or hypotheticals, and the answer must be true based on the given info
38
Q

“Illegal linkage” trap

A

Answers to Inference questions that create connections that weren’t already there

39
Q

“Too strong” trap

A

Answers to Inference questions that have degree words or emphasis words that are stronger than their source words in the stimulus (especially “absolute” or “no exceptions” terms)

40
Q

“Illegal translation” trap

A

Answers to Inference questions that represent Maybes in the translation set of logical relational statements

41
Q

“Out of bounds” trap

A

Answers to Inference questions that would represent extrapolations into the real world or other topics not already introduced within the stimulus

42
Q

“General misquotes” trap

A

Answers to Inference questions that constitute precision mismatches

43
Q

“Wrong place” trap

A

Answers to Inference questions in Passages that come from wrong paragraph, wrong line, or wrong part of the same line as the answer

44
Q

“Others point of view” trap

A

Answers to Inference questions in Passages that represent the positions of other characters/voices in the Passage

45
Q

“Confuses”

A

“Reverses”/”switches”

46
Q

“Unless”

A

“if not”

“…in which case, who knows”

“If it snows, who knows”

47
Q

“I will do everything easy…”

A

“…before I do anything hard”
Ideally we’re structuring all sections in order of increasing difficulty.

This will require us to skip around hugely.

QUESTION: IT DEFINITELY TAKES TIME (READING QUESTION AND ANSWERS) TO DETERMINE WHETHER A QUESTION IS EASY OR HARD, NO?
I.E. FOR ME, IDENTIFYING A QUESTION AS TOUGH AND STRUGGLING WITH IT/ELIMINATING SOME ANSWERS ARE ONE-AND-THE-SAME I THINK

*FROM ARI: WE’LL HAVE FOR EACH ARGUMENT 1) AN INSTANT RESPONSE, 2) A RESPONSE UPON ENTERING THE QUESTION, AND 3) A RESPONSE AT 1 MIN MARK.
ANYTHING YOU KNOW IN FIRST TWO CASES YOU AREN’T GOING TO LIKE HANDLING SHOULD BE PUT OFF AND RETURNED TO LATER.
ANYTHING AT 1 MIN MARK THAT YOU’RE NOT WITHIN A FEW SECONDS OF ANSWERING, YOU SHOULD WALK AWAY; DON’T GUESS AT IT UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, YOU MAY BE ON A WRONG TRACK

48
Q

“With the exception of the double passage in the Passages section, don’t guess…”

A

“…in the moment.” Eliminate any wrong answers you can and then return in a separate “Guess Pass” in the last few minutes of each section

This is because:

  1. coming back to it fresh, it may actually be clearer to you; you were missing or mis-interpreting something in the moment
  2. if you limit time on all questions, you’ll have time for guess pass at the end

“It is never a mistake to walk away”

49
Q

Grand Unified Theory of Timing/Pacing/Guessing

A

Doing everything easy before doing anything hard;
and leaving problems you’re stuck on for a Guess Pass

Advantages:
Doing more questions in less time, and at higher accuracy, in the beginning
Guessing on only the tough ones and doing so at higher success rates

50
Q

Process:

A

Starting speed/accuracy rate

Learn methods/formulas/concepts
Speed decreases, accuracy goes up

Speed increases back to starting speed, high accuracy rates with practice

Implement T/P/G strategies for further gains to speed and better guessing accuracy

LSAT TESTWELL (4 decks)

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