Setup and Rule Diagrams

[lsatjourneygirl]

I figured that it is possible that there are slots that could have no lizards or snakes, but what from the question definitely allows me to infer this, being that there could be no lizards or snakes in a given habitat. When I read that there are 5 habitats for the L and S, I thought for a second each habitat may have to house a L or S? If each habitat had to have a L or S, would it have to say, each habitat has <1?

In general, how do I know forsure that each group in a game will have some variable fill it?

thank you!

[Dave Killoran]

Hi lsatjourneygirl,

There's actually no language in the scenario that states this; it's actually the absence of language specifying that each habitat must be occupied that makes this possible. This is a critical point, because one of the things you have to lock down during your setup in every game is whether every space must be filled, and if so, by how many variables. You must always look for language that references each space being used, and note when no such language appears.

Thanks!

[lsatjourneygirl]

Hi lsatjourneygirl,

There's actually no language in the scenario that states this; it's actually the absence of language specifying that each habitat must be occupied that makes this possible. This is a critical point, because one of the things you have to lock down during your setup in every game is whether every space must be filled, and if so, by how many variables. You must always look for language that references each space being used, and note when no such language appears.

Thanks!

Thanks for the reply! While most stimuluses for games do, for example, clarify at least how many or how many variables are in a group; is it common for a harder game where it will hide the distribution indicators within the rules, and not necessarily in the stimulus? I think when an empty slot occurs it surprises me so I become skeptical that I missed something.

Thanks again!

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi lsatjourneygirl,

The key is not to assume anything, and read the scenario AND the rules before you commit to a given setup. When approaching Grouping Games, these are the questions I want an answer to before I even start diagramming:

• Do you know exactly how many variables must be selected for each group? If not, do you know the min/max number of variables per group? (If you don't have a specified minimum, assume the possibility of zero variables per group. Figuring out the precise Num. Distribution may be challenging in this case. However, if both a minimum and a maximum is provided, a Num. Distribution analysis may be in order.)
• Is each variable used at least once (i.e. can the same variable appear in multiple groups), exactly once, or at most once (i.e. can some variables be left out?)
• Are all the variables functionally uniform, i.e. do they all have the same basic characteristics? When the variables are not functionally uniform, chances are the selection pool is subdivided into specific subgroups, from which you may need to select a min/max number of variables. A Num. Distribution analysis may be in order.

Again, don't assume that this information will be contained exclusively in the scenario. Read through the rules before committing to a particular setup.

Hope this helps!

[glasann]

Would you have gone to the trouble of writing out all those possible combo distributions on test day/under timed conditions?

My set up was correct and I wrote out the numerical distribution (i.e. either 2-2-2-1-empty or 2-2-1-1-1) but I did NOT write out the snake/lizard gender possibilities in the upfront. Is that ok? I got all questions right however it was really slow -- maybe taking it all the way would have sped it up.

Always trying to figure out just how far to dig into inferences when the clock's ticking.

Thanks!

[Adam Tyson]

I would not recommend writing out all the possible distributions of both types and genders, glasann, but I do think it is worthwhile to think about what would be required in each distribution. For example, in the 2-2-2-1-0 distribution, it must be true that the habitat that houses only one reptile must contain a lizard, because there is an odd number of lizards. The other three have to have two pairs of snakes and one pair of lizards. The gender distribution is still very flexible, though, as is the ordering of the habitats, so it would not be a good use of your time to play out multiple scenarios for that.

The same is true for the 2-2-1-1-1 distribution - again, at least one of the habitats with one reptile must contain a lizard, and at least one of the habitats with two reptiles must contain snakes, so I would note that in my distribution as well, but I would not suggest spending the time that it would take to come up with multiple possible distributions of genders.

Templates and numeric distributions are usually best used as wide shapes to structure the game, and you should not spin out every iteration of them unless there are only a very few.