#LSAT Logic Games – the 8 essential skills – http://t.co/IATYxP27
— LSAT PREParation (@LSATPreparation) February 4, 2013
Reproduced from LSATLogicGames.com – The Prep Course
Skill 1 – How To Accurately Understand The Conditions
If you don’t understand the conditions, you will be unable to make accurate inferences from them. Every Logic Games condition or rule is a “built in” reading test.
LSAT designers are very skilled in obscuring important information. As a general principle you must understand:
– positioning issues (where do things go)
– numbering issues (how many objects are you working with? Are there too few, too many, or is it one-to-one correspondence?
– How does the order of the conditions influence the way that you must understand them?
– Quantifiers: all, some, many, exactly, only, etc.
Skill 2 – How To Make Inferences From The Conditions, How Many Inferences to make and when to make those inferences
The “National Anthem” of LSAT preparation is that you should read the conditions, understand them, draw diagrams and answer the questions. In theory this is great. In practice, you won’t know whether you have make the inferences accurately and whether you have made all of them.
Skill 3 – The Skill of Positioning – If you don’t start you can’t finish!
To put it simply – you need to know how to t get started. You can’t “spin your wheels” forever.
You must learn:
– when to draw a diagram (drawing a diagram before starting the questions may actually hurt you)
– the difference between a diagram and shorthand
– how drawing a diagram first can hurt you
– the order to do the questions (it may not be what it seems)
Skill 4 – Diagramming – The Four Aspects
– when
– how
– how much
– how to use them
Skill 5 – Logic Games Questions Require You To Identify Three Modalities
In the context of these three modalities you must understand:
– the relationship between the right and wrong answers
– the “call of the questions” must be false, EXCEPT, etc.
Skill 6 – Specific Logic Games Questions
– numbers: minimum, maxium, exact number
– complete and accurate list
– variable information
– lists
– changing initial conditions
– must be false, EXCEPT
Skill 7 – The Answer Choices – How LSAT Makes Wrong Answers Seem Attractive
– how LSAT disguises the right answer
– accurate content, but incomplete
– accurate content, but problematic order
– compound thought answer choices
Skill 8 – LSAT Logical Reasoning Skills
– conditional reasoning
– syllogisms