Parallel Flaw LSAT Strategy Vocabulary

11 flashcards covering key LSAT Parallel Flaw concepts and distractor patterns.

Anticipating the Flaw

The practice of identifying and articulating the argument’s logical error in your own words before examining answer choices.

Conditional Logic Patterns

Recognizable structures using ‘if,’ ‘only if,’ or ‘unless’ that must be manipulated accurately to avoid reasoning errors.

Illegal Reversal

A conditional logic flaw that mistakenly treats a necessary condition as though it were sufficient.

Illegal Negation

A conditional logic flaw that incorrectly negates both conditions, assuming that the absence of the sufficient guarantees the absence of the necessary.

Comparative Reasoning

The core skill in Parallel Flaw questions: matching the structure and flaw of reasoning rather than topic similarity.

Structure-First Approach

Strategy of breaking an argument into conclusion and support, focusing on logical form before considering subject matter.

Distractor Pattern: Too Valid

An answer choice that is logically correct, failing to mimic the stimulus’s flaw and therefore incorrect for Parallel Flaw tasks.

Distractor Pattern: Too Different

An answer whose reasoning structure does not parallel the stimulus, even if surface content seems related.

Distractor Pattern: Wrong Flaw Type

An option that mirrors the argument’s structure but commits a different logical fallacy than the stimulus.

Topic Temptation

A trap answer designed to lure test-takers with similar subject matter rather than matching logical flaws.

Overlooks Competing Explanations

A common flaw where an argument ignores alternative causes or factors that could also account for the observed result.