#feedback it would be helpful in the written explanation to say what the acronyms stand for. I always forget what PSA, PAI, etc. I feel like I'd remember the acronyms better if I see them written out more.
I keep a running note of all the acronyms because they show up as drill tags as well and I also cannot keep all of them straight yet lol. I do the same for vocab words I come across that I'm not familiar with, and drill them on quizlet once a week. Not sure if you're a list making person, but if you are, this has worked for me!
PSA (Pseudo-Sufficient Assumption): These questions ask you to find a principle or rule that, when applied to the specific facts in the stimulus, strongly supports the conclusion.
SA (Sufficient Assumption): These ask for a premise that, if added to the argument, guarantees the conclusion is 100% logically airtight.
NA (Necessary Assumption): These ask for a premise that the argument needs to be true. If the necessary assumption is false, the entire argument collapses.
PAI (Point at Issue): These feature a dialogue between two speakers. Your job is to identify the exact statement they disagree on.
MBT (Must Be True): These ask you to draw an airtight deduction. The correct answer must be 100% proven by the facts in the stimulus.
MSS (Most Strongly Supported): Very similar to Must Be True, but the correct answer doesn't have to be a 100% perfect deduction—it just needs to be highly likely based on the facts provided.
MBF (Must Be False): These ask you to find the answer choice that directly contradicts the facts given in the stimulus.
S/W (Strengthen / Weaken): These ask you to find a new piece of information that makes the argument's conclusion either more likely to be true (Strengthen) or less likely to be true (Weaken).
General 7Sage and LSAT Terms
LR (Logical Reasoning): The sections of the test featuring short paragraphs (stimuli) followed by a single question.
RC (Reading Comprehension): The sections of the test featuring longer passages followed by 5 to 8 questions.
PT (PrepTest): An official, previously administered LSAT.
BR (Blind Review): 7Sage's review method where you re-attempt flagged questions with unlimited time before checking the correct answers. This separates your raw logic skills from your test-taking speed.
AC (Answer Choice): The options (A through E) provided for each question.
Stimulus: The short paragraph of text you read before answering an LR question.
many times during strengthening questions, the correct answer choice will be a necessary assumption that was already assumed by the argument. Obviously, these answer choices don't sound as "powerful" as many strengthening answer choices but they bridge the gap from premise to conclusion.
I had the same issue, but then realized that you have to click on the tiny "quick view (+)" tab and it opens up the question in full. So I do that now, try it out and then see the explanation. Before the explanation video, I do recommend spending 5 minutes on each answer choice and think why is this wrong or why is this "maybe right"? Then you'll get the logic from the explanation video more, instead of it coming from "left field" or even thinking "how did he conclude that from this, etc.."
#feedback PLEASE standardize these videos so that they all allow the playback speed to be adjusted. Why is this not a feature in all the videos? Do you guys not code the website so that the video player has these settings by default? Is there a box or line of code that someone forgets to implement each time a modular page like this is created for a lesson?
Given my knowledge of coding and website development, I just don't understand why this is even an issue. If one of the main selling points of this website is that there are video lessons, how can something as simple as this be an issue, making sure that all your video files are played through the same, standardized, video player?
I assume whoever coded the website made it so that non-coding-savvy people can create lessons and add videos to each page. However, that leaves me to assume that these end users must have some sort of option, upon uploading or adding a video to the page, to enable or disable the feature of the video player that allows the options of video playback speed and whatnot. If this is true, then there must be some sort of default setting upon upload. Is it that these features are off by default and the people editing the lesson are forgetting to turn on the playback speed options? If so, then why is the default to not have these features enabled?
This is so frustrating!
J.Y. does not speak at the same speed in every video, and I absolutely cannot blame him for that. It's natural with every person depending upon their mood, the time of day, and what they've consumed. However, I would like to have the ability to make up for these fluctuations, and I do so via playback speed options. I can still go back to an older video that has these options available to me (since the settings are site-wide), but I shouldn't be required to go to another web page, change settings, go back to my current lesson, refresh the lesson page, and position the video scrubber back to the same time-stamp as it was before. That's just ridiculous and so unfriendly to us as users.
If you press the period or comma key on your keyboard it speeds up or slows down the video speed! Period to speed up, comma to slow down! it works for every video and you don't need to have the playback speed option on the screen
The quote from the text really struck me "Generally speaking, the strength of the conclusion cannot exceed the strength of its premises". Even though that seems so intuitive, it definitely is helpful to keep this in mind when evaluating answer choices.
@jessverpez The vast majority of LR questions don't involve diagramming conditional logic. I would assume you shouldn't diagram as a default. But when you get the feeling that the question is about connecting different conditional together, that's when I'd decide to diagram.
Also, keep in mind that often diagramming in video explanations is for the purpose of explanation -- this doesn't mean you need to be doing it on paper, particularly if there's only 1 conditional involved or there's a basic argument form that you can keep in your head.
@Kevin_Lin This is great info. I think I would have benefitted from seeing this exact comment at the beginning of the course, as an indicator that diagramming is best applied under certain conditions. It can be confusing seeing the explanations so visually when one is trying to learn how to do this intuitively and wants to follow the best protocol for test day.
When I read the stim, my mind was thinking things like soft gel manufacturing is very hard to acquire. It was only when I read AC B that the assumption I had been making all along slapped my face.
The assumption is so in your face that I missed it at first.
7Sage's tutorials would benefit students more if they presented all answer choices upfront, allowing students to think through in real time instead of spoon feeding answers one by one.
@kk558 Yeah it appears to be a functional workaround to the pre-baked videos. If the video's were done right, they would instanly pop up stimulus & set of AC before the explanation begins thereby giving students a window of opportunity to pause it and apply it right there. one click nation.
The difference between the two is the direction of support. For MSS, the support is coming from the stimulus to the answer choices. In S the support is coming from the answers to strengthen the stimulus and more specifically the conclusion.
Using the question stem from this question as an example... "The conclusion is most strongly supported by the reasoning in the argument if which one of the following is assumed?" Do you see how it is asking for the answer to give support to the stimulus rather than for the stimulus to support the answer?
Compare that to a MSS question stem, "The statements above, if true, most strongly support which of the following?" That stem is clearly asking for the stimulus to support the answer.
The more questions we do, the more innate that direction of support should become when reading the question stems.
#feedback Did you remove the ability to view the question in its entirety with quick view at the beginning of these lessons? I found that very helpful, and I would love to have that feature back
The instructor's diagramming is useful here. The domain is Medicines and Unpleasant (Generally). The argument divides that set into three: tablet, capsule, or soft gel form. The argument also provides statements that suggest that Medication M is not a tablet and is not in soft-gel form. From this set of facts, the argument concludes that it's likely medication M is in capsule form.
The reason B is correct is because it affirms that medication M actually BELONGS to that set. The rule outlines in the argument is a general rule about medications which taste unpleasant: by assuming that medication M is unpleasant, we can affirm that it does actually belong in that set. Take the opposite of B: let's say that Medication M does NOT have an unpleasant taste. In that case, the general rule (which applies only to unpleasant tasting medicines) would NOT apply here, and the conclusion that Medication M is likely to be produced in capsule form is seriously threatened.
#feedback this lesson builds on the rule-application reasoning, but I dont see it anywhere in the previous lessons. Was it moved in 2.0? I can't find a link to it.
If you hit the little Quick View button with the + inside the magnifying glass, you can see the question and answers! I think this was a recent update though, because I don't remember seeing it last week.
Ibuprofen is produced in both soft-gel and tablet form. One is quick-release and one is not. I feel like common sense does not rule out that the sets may intersect.
for answer e, can i eliminate it becasue we do not know if the company developing medication m even cares to make good tasting medicine? that's how i thought of it to eliminate it
I see several conditional indicators in this stimulus, why didn't J.Y. translate them into Lawgic? How will I know when it is and is not appropriate to translate conditional relationships into Lawgic? Translating into Lawgic helps me visualize the relationship. Would it have been incorrect or unnecessary to translate these premises into Lawgic?
@jessverpez Late to the game, but responding in case it helps someone else. Lawgic can be used whenever it is helpful to you in understanding the stim. A lot of high scores will use Lawgic on a couple of questions during the LSAT. But only a couple! The goal is for you to be able to understand the stim intuitively without the use of Lawgic because you will not have time on the LSAT to use Lawgic for every question. It's not incorrect or unnecessary to use it during your study phase, but you should be working toward rarely using it (if at all).
56 comments
#feedback it would be helpful in the written explanation to say what the acronyms stand for. I always forget what PSA, PAI, etc. I feel like I'd remember the acronyms better if I see them written out more.
#feedback I completely agree!!
I keep a running note of all the acronyms because they show up as drill tags as well and I also cannot keep all of them straight yet lol. I do the same for vocab words I come across that I'm not familiar with, and drill them on quizlet once a week. Not sure if you're a list making person, but if you are, this has worked for me!
PSA: pseudo-sufficient assumption
PAI: point-at-issue
@lizzie.b.smith98
Logical Reasoning Question Types
PSA (Pseudo-Sufficient Assumption): These questions ask you to find a principle or rule that, when applied to the specific facts in the stimulus, strongly supports the conclusion.
SA (Sufficient Assumption): These ask for a premise that, if added to the argument, guarantees the conclusion is 100% logically airtight.
NA (Necessary Assumption): These ask for a premise that the argument needs to be true. If the necessary assumption is false, the entire argument collapses.
PAI (Point at Issue): These feature a dialogue between two speakers. Your job is to identify the exact statement they disagree on.
MBT (Must Be True): These ask you to draw an airtight deduction. The correct answer must be 100% proven by the facts in the stimulus.
MSS (Most Strongly Supported): Very similar to Must Be True, but the correct answer doesn't have to be a 100% perfect deduction—it just needs to be highly likely based on the facts provided.
MBF (Must Be False): These ask you to find the answer choice that directly contradicts the facts given in the stimulus.
S/W (Strengthen / Weaken): These ask you to find a new piece of information that makes the argument's conclusion either more likely to be true (Strengthen) or less likely to be true (Weaken).
General 7Sage and LSAT Terms
LR (Logical Reasoning): The sections of the test featuring short paragraphs (stimuli) followed by a single question.
RC (Reading Comprehension): The sections of the test featuring longer passages followed by 5 to 8 questions.
PT (PrepTest): An official, previously administered LSAT.
BR (Blind Review): 7Sage's review method where you re-attempt flagged questions with unlimited time before checking the correct answers. This separates your raw logic skills from your test-taking speed.
AC (Answer Choice): The options (A through E) provided for each question.
Stimulus: The short paragraph of text you read before answering an LR question.
i didnt want to choose b as the right answer bc it just seemed too easy? the lsat writers are fucking with me
many times during strengthening questions, the correct answer choice will be a necessary assumption that was already assumed by the argument. Obviously, these answer choices don't sound as "powerful" as many strengthening answer choices but they bridge the gap from premise to conclusion.
It would be nice to be able to see the full question before the video. I like being able to attempt the question on my own first.
Yes!
I had the same issue, but then realized that you have to click on the tiny "quick view (+)" tab and it opens up the question in full. So I do that now, try it out and then see the explanation. Before the explanation video, I do recommend spending 5 minutes on each answer choice and think why is this wrong or why is this "maybe right"? Then you'll get the logic from the explanation video more, instead of it coming from "left field" or even thinking "how did he conclude that from this, etc.."
Am I stupid? How is this different from a must be true?
I loveeee love love the timestamps for stimulus and each of the answers!! #feedback
#feedback PLEASE standardize these videos so that they all allow the playback speed to be adjusted. Why is this not a feature in all the videos? Do you guys not code the website so that the video player has these settings by default? Is there a box or line of code that someone forgets to implement each time a modular page like this is created for a lesson?
Given my knowledge of coding and website development, I just don't understand why this is even an issue. If one of the main selling points of this website is that there are video lessons, how can something as simple as this be an issue, making sure that all your video files are played through the same, standardized, video player?
I assume whoever coded the website made it so that non-coding-savvy people can create lessons and add videos to each page. However, that leaves me to assume that these end users must have some sort of option, upon uploading or adding a video to the page, to enable or disable the feature of the video player that allows the options of video playback speed and whatnot. If this is true, then there must be some sort of default setting upon upload. Is it that these features are off by default and the people editing the lesson are forgetting to turn on the playback speed options? If so, then why is the default to not have these features enabled?
This is so frustrating!
J.Y. does not speak at the same speed in every video, and I absolutely cannot blame him for that. It's natural with every person depending upon their mood, the time of day, and what they've consumed. However, I would like to have the ability to make up for these fluctuations, and I do so via playback speed options. I can still go back to an older video that has these options available to me (since the settings are site-wide), but I shouldn't be required to go to another web page, change settings, go back to my current lesson, refresh the lesson page, and position the video scrubber back to the same time-stamp as it was before. That's just ridiculous and so unfriendly to us as users.
sometimes if i just exit out and go back into the same lesson it will appear, annoying tho
If you refresh the page it shows up again
If you press the period or comma key on your keyboard it speeds up or slows down the video speed! Period to speed up, comma to slow down! it works for every video and you don't need to have the playback speed option on the screen
The quote from the text really struck me "Generally speaking, the strength of the conclusion cannot exceed the strength of its premises". Even though that seems so intuitive, it definitely is helpful to keep this in mind when evaluating answer choices.
These questions are pure evil. MR.FAT CAT DOES NOT APPROVE LOL
Love how I predicted the answer choice before it appeared. JY has helped me so much
I started translating things into Lawgic and got so frustrated because I got confused! Turns out I didn't need to do Lawgic at all for this question!
@jessverpez The vast majority of LR questions don't involve diagramming conditional logic. I would assume you shouldn't diagram as a default. But when you get the feeling that the question is about connecting different conditional together, that's when I'd decide to diagram.
Also, keep in mind that often diagramming in video explanations is for the purpose of explanation -- this doesn't mean you need to be doing it on paper, particularly if there's only 1 conditional involved or there's a basic argument form that you can keep in your head.
@Kevin_Lin This is great info. I think I would have benefitted from seeing this exact comment at the beginning of the course, as an indicator that diagramming is best applied under certain conditions. It can be confusing seeing the explanations so visually when one is trying to learn how to do this intuitively and wants to follow the best protocol for test day.
You have to be really careful with these.
When I read the stim, my mind was thinking things like soft gel manufacturing is very hard to acquire. It was only when I read AC B that the assumption I had been making all along slapped my face.
The assumption is so in your face that I missed it at first.
7Sage's tutorials would benefit students more if they presented all answer choices upfront, allowing students to think through in real time instead of spoon feeding answers one by one.
@SchmoozerClick on "Show question," which is under the lesson name and next to "Discussion
@kk558 Yeah it appears to be a functional workaround to the pre-baked videos. If the video's were done right, they would instanly pop up stimulus & set of AC before the explanation begins thereby giving students a window of opportunity to pause it and apply it right there. one click nation.
How can I distinguish between a MSS question stem and a S question stem when they both often use "most strongly support"?
The difference between the two is the direction of support. For MSS, the support is coming from the stimulus to the answer choices. In S the support is coming from the answers to strengthen the stimulus and more specifically the conclusion.
Using the question stem from this question as an example... "The conclusion is most strongly supported by the reasoning in the argument if which one of the following is assumed?" Do you see how it is asking for the answer to give support to the stimulus rather than for the stimulus to support the answer?
Compare that to a MSS question stem, "The statements above, if true, most strongly support which of the following?" That stem is clearly asking for the stimulus to support the answer.
The more questions we do, the more innate that direction of support should become when reading the question stems.
THANK YOU for this!!!
Anyone else feel visually doing lawgic etc makes it harder to digest than just doing it in your head
#feedback Did you remove the ability to view the question in its entirety with quick view at the beginning of these lessons? I found that very helpful, and I would love to have that feature back
Looks like it's already back! Not sure if that was just a glitch on my end, but if not, thank you for bringing this feature back!
adding for others - the question preview function changed names from "quick view" to "show question" and is located beneath the lesson name
first
Can someone please explain why C is incorrect? The explanation in the video didn't click for me.
@Flying_Jatt.17 Here's how it clicked for me.
The instructor's diagramming is useful here. The domain is Medicines and Unpleasant (Generally). The argument divides that set into three: tablet, capsule, or soft gel form. The argument also provides statements that suggest that Medication M is not a tablet and is not in soft-gel form. From this set of facts, the argument concludes that it's likely medication M is in capsule form.
The reason B is correct is because it affirms that medication M actually BELONGS to that set. The rule outlines in the argument is a general rule about medications which taste unpleasant: by assuming that medication M is unpleasant, we can affirm that it does actually belong in that set. Take the opposite of B: let's say that Medication M does NOT have an unpleasant taste. In that case, the general rule (which applies only to unpleasant tasting medicines) would NOT apply here, and the conclusion that Medication M is likely to be produced in capsule form is seriously threatened.
#feedback this lesson builds on the rule-application reasoning, but I dont see it anywhere in the previous lessons. Was it moved in 2.0? I can't find a link to it.
Could somebody please explain how PSA questions are different than sufficient assumption/follows logically questions?
Key Difference:
Sufficient Assumption: You’re looking for an assumption that makes the conclusion guaranteed. If the assumption is true, the argument works perfectly.
PSA: You’re looking for an assumption that makes the argument fail. If the assumption is false, the argument falls apart.
In Short:
Sufficient Assumption = Find what guarantees the conclusion.
PSA = Find what makes the argument fail by showing the assumption is not always true.
but this example's assumption made the conclusion more valid rather than fail as you claimed.
This is a strengthen question that uses the reasoning of rule-application, not a PSA.
A little annoying that the answers aren't presented here, meaning that you can't actually attempt the question. #feedback
If you hit the little Quick View button with the + inside the magnifying glass, you can see the question and answers! I think this was a recent update though, because I don't remember seeing it last week.
Ibuprofen is produced in both soft-gel and tablet form. One is quick-release and one is not. I feel like common sense does not rule out that the sets may intersect.
I reasoned the same way he did through the stim! Feeling confident I highlighted what was missing and was assued before looking at the answer choices.
So is goal of PSA to build bridge and try to make prem more relevant to concl?
for answer e, can i eliminate it becasue we do not know if the company developing medication m even cares to make good tasting medicine? that's how i thought of it to eliminate it
I see several conditional indicators in this stimulus, why didn't J.Y. translate them into Lawgic? How will I know when it is and is not appropriate to translate conditional relationships into Lawgic? Translating into Lawgic helps me visualize the relationship. Would it have been incorrect or unnecessary to translate these premises into Lawgic?
@jessverpez Late to the game, but responding in case it helps someone else. Lawgic can be used whenever it is helpful to you in understanding the stim. A lot of high scores will use Lawgic on a couple of questions during the LSAT. But only a couple! The goal is for you to be able to understand the stim intuitively without the use of Lawgic because you will not have time on the LSAT to use Lawgic for every question. It's not incorrect or unnecessary to use it during your study phase, but you should be working toward rarely using it (if at all).