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General questions relating to LSAT Logical Reasoning.
 Lawyered
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#36234
I know this has been asked sometimes but usually, people cite specific things they confuse and the rest of the discussion ends up being about that... my question is more so how do I differentiate between question types??

In general, I look at the question and end up thinking it is a different kind of question than it is.

Remember EVERY kinda of ways a question is asked wouldn't really cut it, right? Cause the test makers can change that or tweak it...

What's the best way to gauge that?? Just keep practicing??
 Adam Tyson
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#36277
In short, yes! With practice, you will get better at knowing what type of question you are being asked. Are you told to accept everything in the stimulus as true? Does it mention undermining or weakening? Ask about a flaw? Does it use the word "if", as in "if true" or "if assumed"? Does it talk about resolving or explaining something? The use of language, while it varies and the authors are always looking for new ways to dazzle and confuse us, is your key to determining what they want you to do with, or to, the stimulus.

If it helps you any, you should know that not only are you not alone, but that sometimes the authors have found ways to ask questions that have even us LSAT-gurus arguing about what type of question we are looking at! Several of us recently engaged in a spirited (and ultimately valuable and exciting) discussion about whether a certain question stem was asking about an assumption of the argument of a justification of the conclusion. On a recent test, there was one stem that I am still scratching my head over that seemed sort of like a hybrid between a strengthen and a must be true!

Ultimately, you want to let go of trying to label the question stem, especially when that label is going to get in your way. Ask not what the question type is, but what the question requires you to do. Focus on the goal of the question, rather than its name, and you'll be better off in the long run. This is the same advice I give about Flaw in the Reasoning questions - it's not about being able to label it as a Straw Man or a Lack of Evidence Flaw or an Exceptional Case, but about learning what those things really mean and how to know them and describe them when you see them, without worrying about slapping a label on them. Labels are a shortcut to understanding, but they are no substitute for actual understanding.

Practice, practice, practice! You'll get better at knowing what to do, whether or not you get better at labeling the types (although that will happen, too). Good luck!
 Lawyered
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#36306
So, let me start off by saying Thank you!

This might sound a little, circular but if I don't really know the question type when how do I assess whether I should use the answer tools to do X or Y ??? I read the Bibles, took notes on it etc. Read & Digested it. How do I know whether a question that seems to be a strengthen or weaken question is a strengthen, justify or assumption... or any other question stem with its confusing moving parts etc.

Wouldn't it be necessary to properly identify the question type to attack it right using the tools we learned?? Obviously, I do not mind putting in the work but is it sound to keep doing test after test where I am getting wrong answers on stuff I have learned from the book already, sure I'll try to review and see from my mistakes but is that a sound way of approaching this test??

Right now I am getting around 15 Qs right in each section but I still have waysss to go.
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 Dave Killoran
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#36341
Hi Lawyered,

What Adam was trying to say was really that you want to make sure that you understand the concepts that underlie these labels, and not focus only on the labels. I see that in places like conditional reasoning, where students can identify a sufficient condition, but then they don't really know how it works or how to manipulate it. The problem here was that it came out sounding a little bit as if he was saying you don't need to know the terms at all when dealing with question types! He didn't really mean that but was instead trying to shift your focus to getting the meaning of each down as well as possible (since presentation can change). That's really sound advice in general, but in question stems typically an understanding of the meaning equals or naturally creates a clear understanding of the labels (it's a sort of double arrow relationship, one might say).

With a few exceptions, most question types are relatively easily classified if you know the indicators to look for. Keep focusing on those elements! With Justify vs Strengthen vs Assumption, those are the hardest to distinguish, but also the most critical to know. Carefully study the differences of each, and I'm confident it won't take long to lock those down. Good luck!
 Lawyered
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#36374
Given the importance, I want to make sure I absolutely understand hence attempting to simplify this to the basics. How do I pick the concepts under the labels? For example, when I see a question with certain words or indicators (assuming from the list of the indicators words of the Bible in a certain chapter?) then I think of the conceptual way to solve that question such as if it's a Must Be True question look for things that validate the conclusion etc?


So, for the indicator point you mentioned, how would you go about that? Remember key indicators of each Qs types?? What would be a good way to learn that stuff so it helps eliminate the wrong answers or arrive at the right answer. I do try to Prephase as much as I can. The art of extracting my prephase from the well-crafted answer choice has been a bit challenging.
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 Dave Killoran
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#36378
A quick answer here since I just have a moment today, but if you look at how the LR Bible is laid out, I early on talk about the fundamentals of how information works, and show which question types are withing each family. That provides a broad framework to understand how to use information in and outside of each question. Then, each individual chapter first starts by specifically discussing exactly how to recognize each question type, including specific phrases typically used in the questions stems and so on. then from there I discuss the concepts of each type and how those work with various forms of reasoning etc. So, it's all laid out in the LRB (if that's what you're using)! It changes for each questions family and question type (and reasoning form, for that matter), and because of that, it's tough to distill it here in a few sentences :-D

As for indicators, go back to the chapters. Justify is a great example—I go into serious detail there about phrases they often use but more importantly what Justify is and how it works, so that you could identify it no matter what language they use! The same is true for every question type.

I hope that helps and good luck. Thanks!

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