Lsat Logical Reasoning Question Type Review

Front 1

Must Be True Questions

Back 1

- Will generally not contain a conclusion

- All correct answers must pass the Fact Test: the correct answer can always be proven by referring to the facts stated in the stimulus.

- Correct Answer Types:
1. Paraphrased answers - that restate a portion of the stimulus in different terms.
2. Combination answers - that combine two or more statements in the stimulus.

-Incorrect Answer Types:
1. Could Be True Answers - are incorrect because they do not have to be true.
2. Exaggerated Answers - stretches information from the stimulus to make a broader statement that is not supported by the stimulus.
3. New Information Answers - includes information not directly in the stimulus. Watch for answers that fall under the umbrella or are a consequence of the stimulus.
4. Shell Game Answers - slightly changes terms or information from the stimulus just enough to make them incorrect.
5. Opposite Answers - present information completely opposite of the facts of the stimulus.
6. Reverse Answers - rearranges familiar elements of the stimulus to create new unsupported statements.

Front 2

Main Point Questions

Back 2

- Main Point = Conclusion

- The correct answer must be true according to the stimulus & summarize the author's main point.

Front 3

Weaken Questions

Back 3

- The correct answer generally undermines the conclusion by showing that the conclusion fails to account for a possibility or that the conclusion does not necessarily follow from the premises.

- Common scenarios that are easy to recognize and attach:
1. Incomplete Information
2. Improper Comparison
3. Qualified Conclusion

Common Incorrect Answer Types:
1. Opposite Answers
2. Shell Game Answers
3. Out of Scope Answers

To weaken a conditional conclusion, attack the necessary condition by showing that the necessary condition does not need to occur in order for the sufficient condition to occur.

Front 4

Weakening Causal Reasoning

Back 4

1. Find an alternate cause for the stated effect.
2. Show that even when the cause occurs, the effect does not occur.
3. Show that although the effect occurs, the cause did not occur.
4. Show that the stated relationship is in fact reversed.
5. Show a statistical problem exists with the data used to make the causal statement.

Front 5

Causal Reasoning with Assumption & Strengthen Questions

Back 5

1. Eliminate any alternate causes for the stated effect.
2. Show that when the cause occurs, the effect occurs.
3. Show that when the cause does not occur, the effect does not occur.
4. Eliminate the possibility that the stated relationship is reversed.
5. Show that the data used to make the casual statement is accurate, or eliminate possible problems with the data.

Front 6

Strengthen Questions.

Back 6

To effectively strengthen arguments:
1. Identify the conclusion - this is what trying to strengthen.
2. Personalize the argument.
3. Look for weaknesses in the argument during your Prephrase.

- Common Wrong Answer Types:
1. Opposite Answers
2. Shell Game Answers
3. Out of Scope Answers

Front 7

Assumption Questions

Back 7

- If the Conclusion is Valid, then the Assumptions are True.

- Assumptions play 1 of 2 roles:
1. Supporter Assumptions - link together new or rogue elements in the stimulus or fill in logical gaps in the arguments.
2. Defender Assumptions - contain statements that eliminate ideas or assertions that would undermine the conclusion.

- Negation Technique: logically negate the answer choice, and if the negated answer undermines the conclusion then it is correct.

Front 8

Justify the Conclusion Questions

Back 8

- Justify Formula: Premises + Answer choice = Conclusion

- If the Answer Choice is Valid, then the Conclusion is Valid.

- Most JTC Questions use either Conditional Reasoning or Numbers & Percentages.

- Most JTC Questions use the word "if" or another sufficient condition indicator, and include the phrase "allows the conclusion to be properly drawn."

- Mechanistic Approach: reduce the stimulus to its component parts and then identify which elements appear in the conclusion but not the premises. The following rules apply:
1. Any "new" element in the conclusion will appear in the correct answer.
2. Elements that are common to the conclusion and at least one premise, or to two premises, normally do not appear in the correct answer.
3. Elements that appear in the premises but not the conclusion normally appear in the conclusion.

Front 9

Method of Reasoning Questions

Back 9

- To eliminate wrong answers, use the Fact Test: if an answer choice describes an event that did not occur in the stimulus, then that answer is incorrect.

- Incorrect Answer Types:
1. "New" Element Answers
2. Half Right, Half Wrong Answers
3. Exaggerated Answers
4. Opposite Answers
5. Reverse Answers

Front 10

Method of Reasoning Argument Part Questions

Back 10

- These question often contain two conclusions - a main conclusion and a subsidiary conclusion - where the main conclusion is typically placed in the first or second sentence, and the last sentence contains the subsidiary conclusion, which is generally preceded by a conclusions indicator e.g. "thus" or "therefore."

- Beware or incorrect answer choices describe parts of the argument other than the part named in the question stem.

Front 11

Resolve the Paradox Questions

Back 11

- Incorrect Answer Types:
1. Answers the explain only 1 side of the paradox.
2. Similarities and Differences - if the stimulus' paradox describes how two events are similar, then an answer choice that describes how the two events are different is incorrect. Likewise, if a stimulus' paradox describes how two events are similar, an answer choice that describes how two events are different is incorrect.

Front 12

Evaluate the Arguments Questions

Back 12

To solve these questions, use the Variance Test: supply two polar opposite responses to the question posed in the answer choice and then analyze how the varying
responses affect the conclusion in the stimulus. If different responses produce
different effects on the conclusion, then the answer choice is correct.

Front 13

Questions with Numbers & Percentages

Back 13

Questions that involve Numbers & Percentages often rely on one of the following misconceptions:
1. Increasing percentages automatically lead to increasing numbers.
2. Decreasing percentages automatically lead to decreasing numbers.
3. Increasing numbers automatically lead to increasing percentages.
4. Decreasing numbers automatically lead to decreasing percentages.
5. Large numbers automatically mean large
percentages, and small numbers automatically mean
small percentages.
6. Large percentages automatically mean large
numbers, and small percentages automatically mean small numbers.

Front 14

Point as Issue Questions

Back 14

Use the Agree/Disagree Test: the correct answer must produce responses where one speaker would say "I agree, the statement is correct" and the other speaker would say,
"I disagree, the statement is incorrect." If those two responses are not produced, then the answer is incorrect.

Front 15

Cannot Be True Questions

Back 15

- Eliminate any answer that could be true, and select the answer that cannot be true.

- If the stimulus features conditional logic, look for an answer choice in which the sufficient condition occurs, and the necessary condition does not occur.

Front 16

Errors in the Use of Evidence

Back 16

1. Lack of evidence for a position is taken to prove that position is false.
2. Lack of evidence against a position is taken to prove that position is
true.
3. Some evidence against a position is taken to prove that position is false.
4. Some evidence for a position is taken to prove that position is true.

Front 17

Time Shift Errors

Back 17

Assuming that conditions will remain constant over time, and that what was the case in the past will be the case in the present or future.