I’ve been having a lot of trouble with the tougher principle-application questions, especially when the triggers are worded in a convoluted way. I’ve noticed that my problems usually show up in two ways:
1. When the wording is really complicated, my brain seems to give up on comprehending it.
I’ve mostly overcome this by forcing myself to stay calm and break down the sentence structure, isolating the subject, action, and object piece by piece. I think the key here is building tolerance for difficult language and being patient with yourself instead of panicking when a sentence doesn’t immediately make sense.
2. My bigger issue right now is retaining the triggers once I move into the answer choices.
I can usually comprehend what each component of the principle is saying, but my short-term memory is pretty limited, so I struggle to keep the entire principle active in my head while evaluating the choices.
Here are the strategies I’m currently using, which seem to help somewhat:
Identify the prescriptions (necessary conditions), memorize those, and largely disregard the triggers (sufficient conditions).
Go into the answer choices and immediately eliminate any conclusions that are unreachable—i.e., conclusions that negate the necessary conditions stated in the stimulus.
Once I identify the reachable conclusions, write down their corresponding necessary conditions, then go back to the stimulus and see whether the triggers fit. lol
These strategies have helped a bit, but I’m wondering if there are better ways to improve my ability to comprehend and retain principles, particularly the really convoluted ones.
Do you guys have any techniques for building tolerance for difficult principle wording or for keeping the principle in working memory while going through the answer choices? I’d especially appreciate any tips, strategies, or personal experiences! :)
2 comments
Are you using your scrap paper? You shouldn't have to really retain much - and its fine to use shorthand/abbreviations, just double check that the terms are really the same. For example, the rule might say "If an act causes harm then the act is wrong." I'd short hand that as "if CH → W" but then I need to make sure that the answer choice matches precisely - an answer choice might say "John intended to cause harm. . . " That would still be abbreviated as CH but you need to check that it's the same CH - and here it's not because in the rule intent isn't enough. But this will still let you eliminate choices that say "X -> CH" or "X → not W."
There's no reason to make it a memory test.
Great tip!! I did a bit of self-reflection and realized I'm scared to use my scrap paper because writing things down feels like I'm spending a ton of time. But efficiently using my scrap is just a skill I need to improve on. Thank you!