- PowerScore Staff
- Posts: 997
- Joined: Oct 19, 2022
- Wed Jun 25, 2025 7:40 pm
#113334
Hi miriamson,
First, when reading/interpreting sentences in logical reasoning, it's important to use the plain meaning of the text. For example, the plain meaning of the first sentence of the argument is that newspapers choose only scientific studies whose findings sound dramatic as their criteria for selecting which scientific studies to report on. The idea that the newspaper stories themselves are what is actually making the findings sound dramatic isn't what is stated or even implied. If that had been the idea, then it would have been expressed differently, such as "newspapers always make scientific study findings sound dramatic in their reporting."
Second, it's important to try to prephrase the flaw before looking at the answers. If you have a clear understanding of the flaw before reading the answers, the right answer should be much easier to spot and wrong answers should be much less likely to tempt and/or confuse you.
Here, the flaw is a numbers/percentage flaw. These flaws are fairly common in logical reasoning, so common that "The Logical Reasoning Bible" has a separate chapter covering these flaws and concepts. Familiarizing yourself with these flaws will help you with spotting them prior to reading the answers, which will make eliminating the wrong answers such as Answer E much easier.
Finally, when trying to determine what flaw an argument contains, focus on the conclusion of the argument. The flaw usually occurs in the conclusion, specifically in an erroneous jump in logic between the premises and the conclusion.
First, when reading/interpreting sentences in logical reasoning, it's important to use the plain meaning of the text. For example, the plain meaning of the first sentence of the argument is that newspapers choose only scientific studies whose findings sound dramatic as their criteria for selecting which scientific studies to report on. The idea that the newspaper stories themselves are what is actually making the findings sound dramatic isn't what is stated or even implied. If that had been the idea, then it would have been expressed differently, such as "newspapers always make scientific study findings sound dramatic in their reporting."
Second, it's important to try to prephrase the flaw before looking at the answers. If you have a clear understanding of the flaw before reading the answers, the right answer should be much easier to spot and wrong answers should be much less likely to tempt and/or confuse you.
Here, the flaw is a numbers/percentage flaw. These flaws are fairly common in logical reasoning, so common that "The Logical Reasoning Bible" has a separate chapter covering these flaws and concepts. Familiarizing yourself with these flaws will help you with spotting them prior to reading the answers, which will make eliminating the wrong answers such as Answer E much easier.
Finally, when trying to determine what flaw an argument contains, focus on the conclusion of the argument. The flaw usually occurs in the conclusion, specifically in an erroneous jump in logic between the premises and the conclusion.