Worrying pattern

[ahmed95]

Hello,

I realized that under timed conditions while taking a practice LSAT test, I am fine with finishing on time in the Reading Comprehension section and Logical Reasoning. However, when I get to the Logic Games, for some reason, I just panic and freeze where I feel incapable of solving the questions nor make correct inferences. Ironically, I often feel that Logic Games is my strong suit under untimed conditions. Please help me resolve this paradox because I feel it should not happen especially since I feel confident in the other sections.

Thank you in advance!

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Ahmed,

Thank you for the question. Logic Games timing is a common question that comes up here (in fact, just a few minutes ago I answered a question about taking too long on LG: http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... f=6&t=7749). The nature of your question is a bit different than most others, however, so first I'm going to ask several different questions to try to get a better perspective on what is happening.

If I understand you correctly, when you are practicing on your own and not looking at the clock, you do pretty well on games and generally feel comfortable, right? Do you feel like you are going extremely slowly, or is your speed under those conditions somewhat reasonable? In other words, how slowly are you going when untimed?

Next, tell me a bit about what happens when you freeze/panic. Do you begin to get nervous when you know you are going to do a timed LG section? Do you freeze immediately once the section starts, or does it wait to appear until the first sign of difficulty? Is there any history that you have where you had a really bad section or something bad happen during an LG section? I'm looking for any cause of this situation that you might know about.

From my standpoint, when you work with students who having freeze/panic situations it can often be a big challenge because their outlook is often extremely negative (which is understandable). As I've often written about on this Forum and our blog, if you don't think or believe you can do it, then you simply can't do it. What I really liked in your message was the fact that you seem pretty comfortable with games, and your performance is surprising to you. That tells me you think you can do it, and that is the most important thing here, and it makes me feel good about the chances for improving your performance.

So, if you don't mind, please give me as much info as you can about your LG history, practice routines, etc, and we'll keep working on it.

Thanks!

[ahmed95]

Hello again,

Thank you for your response. I am going to answer your questions in the order that you gave me.

That is correct, untimed I do pretty well and FEEL confident. That being said, I would not say I go too slowly. I feel like I go at the normal untimed pace.

Yeah, it is in the beginning once I write out all the rules of a game. Now if it is a ridiculously easy game, I can get through it but it is only in the medium to difficult games.
I actually like Logic games which is why I am a little bit surprised. I know its something more in my head rather than in my capabilities necessarily. I was just hoping if there were methods you can give me in order to overcome that hurdle.
P.S. “freeze/panic” is a bit of an exaggerated term from my side but basically it’s a mental block that I feel in a timed practice test

Thank you again!

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Ahmed,

Thanks for the additional information! Issues with test mentality are rarely caused by just a single, universal problem. Each person has different causes, and thus different solutions. So, I can't give you a single tool or set of tools to fix the problem quickly. I am actually working on a PowerScore Test Anxiety Bible, and have been doing so for a while now, but because this involves a lot of research it isn't ready at this point.

However, because this topic interests me greatly, I have done seminars and published a fair amount of articles about mental outlook and how to ward off anxiety. Here's a short list of items I'd suggest you review, with the Test Mentality being the most important of these:

• Our Free Test Mentality Seminar, which can be found at http://www.powerscore.com/lsat/help/#free-lessons, it's about the 6th link down. That seminar is about how to mentally approach the test and how to be as aggressive as possible.
  
  Blog: Tom Brady and the LSAT, at http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/326 ... d-the-LSAT. This is more info on test mentality, and probably my favorite blog I've ever written.
  
  And, you might find this whole LSAT Discussion Forum thread interesting, as it is what generated the Tom Brady blog. Plus, you might see some similarities between yourself and Thomas, the student I was corresponding with: http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... f=2&t=4666. It's long, but really informative and he ended up with a 24 point increase
  
  Blog: Andy Murray's Motivational Notes and the LSAT, at http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/andy-mu ... d-the-lsat. Even the great ones need support and motivation.
  
  Blog: How to Increase Your LSAT Score Simply By Using Your Nose, at http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/how-to- ... -your-nose. Another great example of the power of your mind, and even more links to LSAT test mentality articles.

Thanks!