Avoiding Mistaken Reversals

[kim4]

Hi,

I was wondering if you could help me figure out how to diagram conditional terms. I've been going through the lessons and practice questions, but 9 times out of 10 I end up diagramming a mistaken reversal. I've read the material and theoretically I get it, but when it comes down to it I always diagram that part wrong and it throws off everything. Ex: Game #4 - December 1997 3-21 and MN, MR and Contrapositive Questions (2-64 and 2-65) #11 and #13.

I get it for cause and effect relationships but so far haven't been able to figure out conditional term diagrams (i.e. which is sufficient and which is necessary).

Thank you
Kim

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Kim,

Thanks for the message. Your question is not an uncommon one. When people first encounter conditional reasoning, it's like moving to a foreign country: you kind of understand what's going on, but key things tend to be different. So, it takes a bit to adjust to the environment before you feel comfortable

To get a handle on conditional reasoning, I'm going to first refer you to two other posts I've made on this topic, and they can be found at:

• http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... p=216#p216
  
  http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... 6166#p6166

The thing about diagramming is that at first it is easy to overthink it at first. With a simple recognition of indicator words, you can probably diagram 90-95% of all conditional statements easily and accurately (the remaining 5-10% take a while to get comfortable with, but it is a lot easier to take your time with those once you know you can handle the vast majority of conditionals you see). So, the first step is to know the basic indicator words for sufficient and necessary conditions. Know those by heart, and simply apply them when you encounter them. That should make a question like #13 on page 2-65 a lot easier to handle.

As far as how indicator words work, think about them as you would road signs: when you see such as "if," "when," "only," "all," "every," and so on, they are always telling you something consistent as well as how to proceed. In those instances, you can typically process the statements very quickly without really thinking about the content (one of the links above touches on that idea).

There's also a lesson concept module that is posted in the Online Student Center where I talk about conditional reasoning and how to think about indicator words like these. That's in the Lesson 2 section, and you may find it helps you get a big picture view of how all of this works.

So, let's start by checking out the links above, and after reading those, let me know if they helped, and whether you have more questions about this. I'm happy to keep working with you on this until you feel 100% comfortable. It may take a little bit of time, but you can learn how to diagram all of these. Thanks!