LSAT Theory Works: Lesson 1 - Logical Reasoning

What is the most important thing to remember not to do from here on out?

When identifying the conclusion and premise of the stimulus stop using your own words.

What is a stimulus?

The stimulus is whatever passage/content we are evaluating

How is the conclusion defined?

A conclusion is defined as a claim or a statement supported by at least one other claim or statement

Conclusion = Collects Support

How is a premise defined?

A premise is defined as a claim or statement that provides support to another claim or statement

Premise = Provides Support

How can you identify an argument?

You can identify an argument by identifying the conclusion and premise

Can you have a conclusion without a premise?

No.

Can you have a premise without a conclusion?

No.

In order to identify one argument is what are the two other factors that need to exist in the stimulus?

The two other factors that would need to exist are a conclusion and a premise.

How do we deconstruct the structure of an argument?

Precisely identify what the conclusion and what the promise is.

Is everything in the premise part of the argument?

Not always

What do we call information that exist in the stimulus but it’s not the premise, nor the conclusion?

Extraneous information

What should be done with extraneous information?

Nothing. we should ignore it because it does not determine what the argument is.

If we don’t ignore extraneous information, what could happen?

It will mislead the reader and take them down a false path.

What is important to remember when it comes to extraneous information

When you come across extraneous information, it is important to remember that it will deter us from seeing the argument

When presented with a logical reasoning, question, what is the next step after identifying what an argument is?

The next step would be identify is the argument is valid or invalid.

Are most arguments on the LSAT invalid or valid?

Most arguments, on the LSAT are invalid

What is a valid argument?

Valid argument is a perfect argument. It is an argument where the premise definitively, and absolutely, 100% proves the conclusion. It’s an argument where if the premise is true then the conclusion follows logic. This means you cannot weaken it nor can you strengthen it.

An sample of a valid argument is…

Awesome people do well on the LSAT. Sarah is awesome. Therefore, Sarah does well on the LSAT.

Valid arguments are ___ in the real world

Rare

Approximately 20 of the 26 logical reasoning questions on the outside will be… the other six…

Invalid arguments. Might not even be arguments at all.

In logical reasoning, the goal is to find out…

How an argument is invalid

What does it mean if an argument is invalid?

Is an argument is invalid. This means that there is a gap in the reasoning.

what are the two characteristics of an assumption?

1. It is a premise, and something that supports the conclusion

2. What is an unstated claim. It is not explicitly stated in the stimulus.

How can we figure out if a part of a stimulus is a premise?

It is a reason to believe that the conclusion is true.

The premise makes a conclusion…

A little more likely to be true than before.

If you understand that a premise makes a conclusion more true it should be clear that if a piece of information is relevant, that the opposite versions of that information should have the opposite effect on the conclusion. In other words…

If a premise strengthens the conclusion that the opposite of that promise weakens the conclusion

Strengthening questions test whether you can

Whether you can read an answer choice, and determine whether it is a promise for the conclusion.

The correct answer of a strengthening question will be…

A premise. The other ones will not be premises.

In a week and a question, the correct answer is…

The counter of the premise.

An invalid argument could make sense, but…

There’s weakness or an error in logic. In other words, it requires us to make an assumption within the argument for it to be valid.

in an assumption question when looking over answer choices one must ask the question…

Does this have to be true for the conclusion to be true?

Since it is an indicator to what part of the stimulus?

The premise.

When going through questions, it is important to _____ rather than look for the correct answer

Look for the wrong answers

Although this language is used in the directions it is important to remember that

There is no such thing as a fast answer because there’s only one answer

It is important to remember that _______ arguments can exist on the exam

Conditional. Meaning, the argument is dependent on certain factors existing.

If the stimulus has extraneous information in it, it is important to remember…

Any answer that mentions the extraneous information is incorrect

what is a contender answer?

A contender is an incorrect answer that meets 90% what’s the correct answer is

Well, every question on the LSAT have a contender?

Yes.

When looking through each answer option it is important to…

Not look for the correct answer. Rather we want to look for all of the incorrect answers.

If you narrow down your option choices to one of the five answers remaining, but you are not confident that the answer you are choosing is correct this would indicate.

You did not use enough precision when evaluating each answer option and it is likely you are choosing the incorrect answer

On the Allysa, usually you are able to narrow down the answer choices to the contender in the actual, correct answer. This is because…

Often times they use confusing and ugly wording in the actual correct answer to cause confusion. This would push the examiner to pick a contender answer rather than the correct one.

If you fail to look at each answer option through the lens of disproving them, this would imply that you are looking for the correct answer rather than the incorrect answers. This framework of thinking will lead you to…

Select a contender answer, rather than the correct one

Looking for the correct answer rather than the incorrect answers, not only increases the likelihood that you will pick the contender option meaning lose points. But it also increases ____

The amount of time you’re spending on answers. Which is what is leading you to run out of time. There are only 26 correct answers in the logical reasoning section however, there are 104 incorrect answers the last time you spend analyzing 104 incorrect answers the more time you have to focus on Completing the section with precision.

Always well, especially when you narrow the answer choices down to two options it is important to…

Look for what is wrong in the answers

When looking through each answer choice, you should also cross out…

What portion of that answer choice makes it incorrect

Every sentence has…

A subject, a verb, and a predicate

In the sentence, Sarah, walk to the library, identify the subject, the verb and a predicate

The subject is Sarah. The verb and his walks. And the predicate is to the library.

In the portion of a wrong answer that we cross out (a.k.a. the portion that indicates that that answer choice is incorrect) is the portion of the language that…

Begins with and follows the verb of the answer choice.

What is the operative part of an answer choice?

The part that begins with, and follows the verb.

The operative part of an answer choice is where we determine

If that option choice is incorrect aka is the argument is dependent on that assumption

When determining if an answer is incorrect focus on…

The verb and the predicate

Generally, speaking time, spent on the stimulus is time…

Well spent

If you want to get faster on the exam without sacrificing accuracy, the key is to get better at…

Identifying what makes a wrong answer wrong

the word so is a…

Conclusion indicator

The word because is a…

Premise indicator

The word requires indicates a question is ______ question.

An assumption

The word assumption can appear on many different questions but it does not necessarily mean that the type of question is ______ question

An assumption

Allow yourself to cross off ____ questions before you pick one you don’t think is rugby after evaluating each option

All

When eliminating an answer option…

Focus on the VERY specific section/language of each answer option that makes it wrong