Isolating Conditional Statements... Help?

[philosophriend]

Good afternoon everyone, I come to you with a question that is leaving me pretty disheartened in my LSAT studying. My problem is rooted in conditional reasoning. I understand how to utilize CR, i.e. properly forming statements (made flashcards for necessary vs. sufficient terms) and establishing contrapositives, but I cannot find conditional statements very clearly (if at all) when reading through a LR passage. I am doing the HW for chapter 2 (pages 2-62 through 2-70), and the questions I continuously get wrong are ones where I cannot explicitly see indicator words.

For example, question 9 out of the portion of the homework I listed; I thought the first sentence was the CR statement, but after reading the explanation I find out that the information for creating a CR statement is in the second sentence... Well how do I avoid falling victim to the part of the text that says, "...all mental functions will be explained"? Also with question 3. I ended up creating two separate CR chains in that question, when the answer explanation only has one. I made SWC ~LL and ~LL ~C ; SWC = Society with Crimes, LL = Lawless, and C = Crime.

So, my question is... How the heck do I clearly isolate conditional statement information effectively, without being caught up by other sentences in the stimulus? Clearly identifying the keywords is not enough, because multiple questions so far have 'fake' keywords that are leaving me to overanalyze the text and create conditional statements structured around the wrong information.

Thank you for any help, and I look forward to any advice.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Philosophriend,

Thanks for the question! I have a few thoughts for you that I hope will help.

First, don't be disheartened at all when you struggle. This is a very difficult test, and having some difficulties is actually the norm. Plus, there are positives present when you have problems, and making mistakes can be very helpful. What you want to do is look at this process as a learning experience, and realize that missing questions is simply part of getting better. Your test mentality will have a huge impact on how you do, and one thing you will see incorporated into the course (in the coursebooks and in the Online Student Center) are various segments on strengthening your mental outlook (some of our publicly available resources are listed in various blog articles—such as here—and in our Free Help Area).

Second, let's talk about conditional reasoning. I've written extensively on this Forum about conditionality, and it is one of those concepts that can be really tricky at first. However, the good news is that you can master this, and the more time you spend with it, the easier this will get. So, I'm go to start out by linking a set of forum and blog posts that I've made previously. I think that going through those will help you out, and then we can keep talking about it as you progress through more and more related concepts. these posts won't be specifically about indicator vs non-indicator words, but will go farther afield from that, mainly because I want to make sure you are seeing conditionality the way it works on the test.

• Avoid Real World Interpretations and Follow the Language: http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... p=216#p216
  
  One More Look on what Sufficient and Necessary Means (this is key so that when indicators aren't present, we know what we're doing): http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... 6166#p6166

I always like to make sure those two points are clear, just in case. It seems like you've done some excellent studying and probably have those concepts, but when you are having trouble early, the first step is to make sure that the basics are solid.

Next, let's reference some of the explanations we've made for the problems you've cited or issues related to what you asked about. Again, just to make sure we have a few things covered:

#9 Diagramming: http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... =28&t=6542

Last, let me address your thoughts about indicator words and determining what is important. One of the first things you learn about the LSAT (and indeed the world at large) is that conditionality is everywhere (even that statement is conditional!). This is overwhelming at first and makes it seem like what you've learned has limited applicability. I've said elsewhere on this forum that "tracking conditionality is like being an air traffic controller. I don't worry about it until it appears on the radar, and then, I only worry about what I need in the context of the problem (as in knowing that the CP is always valid, and that the MR and MN is invalid, etc). In other words, you don't have to think about it constantly; only when it is there." But, there's an important part missing in that explanation: I'm not talking about all conditionality, just what I determine to be important. That's where you are right now. How do we determine what's important and what isn't?

The measure that I use is that I look at the role the conditionality is playing in the argument. Is the argument using the conditional reasoning in some central fashion, or is it just incidental? I also don't diagram that much, so I don't lose time from every statement I encounter (side note: we teach everyone how to diagram at first because you must have that skill for both advanced LR and all LG; as we go on, we talk more and more about diagramming less). So, when I encounter the first sentence in #9, for example, I see that the first sentence is conditional. But it's qualified by the statement that " “Physicalists” expect that..." So, it's really just a projection, and thus I hold on to it mentally, but then find that it really doesn't play a role thereafter. The second sentence, however, is far more decisive: three things are required to achieve this goal. When the third sentence begins listing out what has been achieved, and then the conclusion trades on that relationship, I know that's the key conditionality here, and that the first sentence was just a contextual setup sentence. Seeing it this way takes time, and is exactly why we throw higher level difficulty questions at you right out of the gate. The more you see of this, the better you will get, and then one day you will be doing this type of analysis without thinking about it. Then it will be fast and decisive for you.

In #3, that first sentence was again a setup sentence, and it appears you also ran into a different issue. One of the tricks that the test makers use is phrasing the same concept (or its negation) in different ways. So, you had SWC and C, and in some places those two things are the same (at least I'm thinking this is how you viewed it; I may be wrong but regardless this is something they do in problems so we'll see it eventually). There are problems where you have to manipulate the terms just a bit to allow for rough equations, and we'll see more of those as we go on.

Ok, that's a lot of pieces, so please check that out and let me know if it helps as a start. Then we'll see where we are. Thanks!

[philosophriend]

Dave, thank you for your thorough response. I did find what you posted helpful, and am happy to hear that conditional reasoning/identifying it in a stimulus is a skill that can be honed. Noting terms like 'should', as well as 'holding on to a sentence mentally' while reading through (and before writing anything out) are two things I will certainly keep in mind for future questions. I will spend some time this week practicing CR, and will follow-up if there are any other questions. Once again, thanks!

[Dave Killoran]

Ok, that sounds good, and I'm glad I could help so far. One other thought is that every time you do conditional problems, maybe keep a log of anything notable you found in the question, especially if you miss it. Just the process of tracking in that fashion can help you identify the patterns that exist, make you more aware of how they are using the language, and show how small changes in presentation can have a big effect. It more or less puts conditional reasoning on your radar and gives you a history to review down the road.

Please keep us posted on how it is going. Thanks!