Hi all the purpose of this post is twofold: to teach everything I know about phenomenon hypothesis (PH) and correlation causation (CC) argument types, as well as to be a knowledge check where other people can correct me and make sure my understanding is solid. I'll start with PH, then go through CC, and then I'll show how both argument types are very similar.

In PH arguments, we have something that happens in the real world, then we offer an explanation of why that thing is the way it is. For instance, I see a bunch of seals barking. Then I see fishermen riding their boats in the harbor. I say, "It must be that seals bark whenever they see fishermen." My phenomenon is "seals bark" and my hypothesis is "they bark when they see fishermen." In lawgic, the SC would be "See fishermen" -> and the NC would be "Bark."

There are a lot of ways to strengthen PH and CC arguments and I'll explain them here: 1. A->B, 2. block B->A, 3. block C->A&B, 4. block "no relation," 5. block bad chronology, and 6. show "good consequences." 7. No cause no effect

A->B really just means "If see fishermen -> bark." This works with PH and CC arguments. How can I show that seals really do bark when they see fishermen? Show more data. a trend of more data. I don't want to see 1 more case of seals barking when they see fishermen, I want to see a lengthy trend of seals barking many times over a long period of time. I have seen at least 2-3 times where the LSAC will use a trap answer where the "strengthening" answer choice just throws in 1 more example of the hypothesis working. "You say seals bark when they see fishermen, well Joe saw a seal barking when fishermen were present." I want to see "over the last 5 years, there's an 85% chance that seals will bark whenever they see fishermen." I don't want a single corroborating example (although this does strengthen the hypothesis very, very, very slightly), I want to see a trend.

Block B->A. Let's say my argument is "When the sun shines, then my trees grow." To show that B actually causes A is a little weird in this case, but it would go like this: "My trees growing actually cause the sun to shine." If the latter case were true, then my argument that "sun shine -> trees grow" would be ruined! The causality would be flipped the other way around. The B->A style works really well for CC arguments where I'm trying to show that A is causing B; to show B->A, or block B->A can weaken / strengthen the argument.

For example - "When the sun shines, -> trees grow." To strengthen this argument I can block B->A. "It's also not the case that trees growing causes the sun to shine." I'm eliminating the possibility that my causality isn't flipped. To go back to seals, I would block the case that barking (NC) actually is the explanation for the seals to somehow be seeing fishermen (SC). "It's not the case that barking allows the seals to see fishermen."

Block C->A&B = block an alternate explanation.

What if it's the case that shrimp actually cause the seals to bark and the fishermen to appear? In that case my phenomenon hypothesis argument would be ruined. It's not the case that seeing fishermen causes seals to bark. It's something else.

I want to block this alternate explanation: "It's not the case that shrimp cause fishermen to appear and that shrimp cause seals to bark."

In a correlation causation argument, let's say "hearing about earthquakes in the news causes people to dream about earthquakes." But what if everyone was watching a movie about earthquakes, and this movie caused the dreams? We would want to strengthen our argument by blocking an answer choice that says "A recently released movie about earthquakes is known to cause people to dream about earthquakes." We can eliminate the possibility of an alternate explanation, and this strengthens our argument that actually hearing about earthquakes in the news caused dreams.

No relation / 5. bad chronology

Bad chronology goes hand in hand with "No relation" so I'll group them here. "If I study -> get 180." What if I see an independent study that says "studying has been shown to have no effect on your test results."? That would show "no relation."

Likewise, what if I said "Bob studied then he got a 180. Therefore, studying gives you a 180." Then I say "Bob started studying AFTER he got a 180." This shows bad chronology - the effect actually occurred before the alleged cause! Block this to strengthen.

Good consequences

If the phenomenon hypothesis argument is true, I want to show good consequences. If my hypothesis is true, what would happen? Let's say my hypothesis is "If seals see fishermen -> then they bark." Good consequences AC would say "Fishermen have increased in the bay 500% in the last month. Since then, sales of earplugs have increased 1000%." Fishermen are in the bay a lot more, which means seals are barking, and people don't want to listen to that so they buy earplugs.

Another example is "The city is increasing the speed limit by 30mph. Therefore there will be more car wrecks." A good consequences answer choice would say "There have been more speeding tickets since the speed limit increased."

If we take our hypothesis to be true, then make a reasonable assumption of what could happen if the hypothesis were true, we get a "good consequences" answer choice that strengthens the argument.

No cause no effect

Let's take the argument "It's sunny. Therefore my ice cream will melt." If S -> M.

If I show that there's no sun, and indeed my ice cream is not melting, this is good! I strengthen my argument.

However, if I show "Cause with no effect," or "Effect with no cause," these WEAKEN the argument. It's sunny, but my ice cream isn't melting. Or "my ice cream is melting, but it's not sunny!" These weaken.

Hey Guys,

When taking the LSAT multiple times, if three scores are in the 140s and the fourth one is in the 160s low 170s with 7 months in between scores, will schools flag it or request an addendum or does it not matter?

Thank you in advance for the answers!

[I am posting on behalf of a 7Sage user:]

How crucial is it to have the most recent PTs in Digital format? I have some PTs in paper form. And I still have a good amount of PT material left from my current 7Sage material.

Good Afternoon!

I previously took the LSAT last August and received a 166 and am signed up to take the LSAT again on October 3rd. I want to improve my score to ensure I get into the schools I want, but if I dont end up improving my score it's not the end of the world for me as I'll probably still get in. I wanted to post and get some advice on where to foucs my efforts leading up to the test. I only have about 15 hours a week or so to spend preparing as I'm also taking a heavy course load in school.

I know that logic games are my weakest section so I plan to spend the majority of my time on improving here. I also see that if I do the whole logic games section in 7sage it will take me upwards of 40 hours so I'm not sure if it's worth it to follow the whole ciriculum here. I would like to also spend a decent chunk of my time doing practice tests + some focused learning on the other sections.

So I'm wondering what people think is the best use of my time considering the limited time I have. Any feedback is apprecaited!

I have a few questions about writing my resume. First, should I include retail jobs on my resume if that's all the work experience I had in college? Also I'm not sure if an addendum would be necessary for this but I just want to make sure. At one point I was working two jobs but quit one of them for medical reasons. Should I explain this or does it not really matter? Also on my resume it will show that I worked at a coffee shop until March 2020 and then didn't work until September. I'm assuming they'll know this will be from COVID, but again should I explain this? Thanks

I am applying to schools this cycle (graduated college this past May) and am worried about sending in my applications before having a job on my resume. Hopefully I will secure a job soon, but my concern is balancing the detriments of sending my applications in later vs sending them in sooner without a job on my resume. For context, I am mostly concerned about the effect this may have on my chances at top-ranked schools. My stats are 173 LSAT, 3.6 GPA (science major), non-URM. I appreciate any insight, thanks!

If I decide to take some time off from studying (1+ months) and cancel my 7Sage subscription, then later resume both studying and the subscription payment, will my progress be saved or will my 7Sage account start back from the beginning?

#help

Hello. How screwed am i? My diagnostic was 150, and im booked for October LSAT. I can dedicate about 30-40 hours a week until my test date. Im only done 33.9% of the 7sage core curriculum. is this feasible? what is the best strategy?

I’ve been studying for the Lsat for about a month and a half now and feel like I have a lot of improvements to make. Should I sign up for the November Lsat just because it’s a flex? Should I try? Not aiming for a top 40 law school.

I don’t want to risk waiting until January to then find out the lsat will be back to normal

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm struggling to make up a large gap between timed test scores and blind review test scores. I have been scoring in the high 150s on timed tests and blind reviewing into the low 170s. Others posting in the forums do not seem to have such a large gap.

I thought doing more full timed tests to practice with the timing would help, but over 7-8 tests I have not seen any improvements. The gap is largely made up in LR and RC. Any suggestions? Would greatly appreciate any help!

Hi,

I have trouble understanding answer choice B. What is it like to be ambiguous in an LR stimulus? When I was doing this question under timed, I thought ambiguous notion of knowledge was the author does not state whether her example of some Greek philosophers' opinion is right or wrong. So I chose B. Even after watching the explanation video, I still have trouble understanding why B is wrong and what would a stimulus be like if the correct answer choice were B. Any #help would be appreciated!

Link to the question: https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-c2-section-3-question-18/

hello, i recently switched over from Powerscore and the 7sage interface is quite different. I'm trying to take a practice test (digital) now but I can't figure out how to underline / highlight. any help would be appreciated. thanks!

edit: i already cleared my cache and my digital tester looks different than the version i have seen in other explanations on this forum

Apologies if the question is too broad -- I'm wondering if anyone knows whether early decisions are always on a "round" basis (as in timing of submission has zero impact on admission decisions, as long as submitted by the deadline), or whether there are instances in which they operate on a rolling admissions basis. I can't seem to find any information that disproves or confirms either option on law schools' websites (e.g. Northwestern).

Thank you!

I have studied LSAT for a while, but I have a timing issue. I recently completed PT 64 and made -12 but -1 in the blind review. Getting -1 in the blind review gives me some confidence that I'm smart enough to get good score on the test, but as long as I cannot complete it within the time limit, there is no way I can get 165+ on LSAT. I think my reading speed is slow and is not very accurate in reading comprehension under the time constraint. Thus, I want to ask anyone how to improve a speed issue and accuracy. Any help will be a great benefit to me!!!

Planning to take the January LSAT. I scored 144 on my diagnostic test and just started study. Would love someone to talk to and keep each other accountable. My email is marcywelch@hotmail.com and I’m in PST

Hey fellow 7Sagers,

I have two quick questions for y'all!

I'm having troubles understanding why JY translates answer answer choice A—that ends up being the right answer—like this:

MPH ----> LS

moreLS = moreH

When answer choice A states "Most people need the love and support of others; without it, they become depressed and unhappy"

I translated it like this "/Love&support --m---> depressed&unhappy," using "without" group 3 translation negate + sufficient. Also, why not inserting most into the arrow?

Cheers,

https://classic.7sage.com/lesson/experimental-psychology-pf-question/?ss_completed_lesson=1142

Admin Note: https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-32-section-4-question-21/

I don't understand how B is correct. It states that "a piece of narrow floorboard was NOT SIGNIFICANTLY LESS EXPENSIVE than a piece of wide floorboard'." However, how does that translate to narrow boards being more expensive--which I believe would make narrow boards a status symbol. Going by the phrasing- they could be only a little less expensive, or simply the same price. Please help and earn my eternal lsat blessings :)

Admin Note: https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-24-section-3-question-23/

I'm scoring -0 ~ -3 on LG

but havent done any RC passages and am scoring -8 ~ -12 on LR so I don't think I'm ready for Nov even though I want to take the FLex.

What do you think are the chances that Jan will be a Flex??

I just got a popup that said something along the lines of "Wooo you broke the 170s barrier that's amazeballs" from JY. Is this an automated message that everyone gets, or was it personalized? I accidentally navigated away from the page and cannot find any way to see this again/respond. Does anyone else know?

Hello! I think this is something for the admins to handle, not sure where to post...

I took PT 86 on lawhub and in inputting my responses into the 7sage system, noticed that in the RC section, the final question (q 27) is missing. The question is "Given the information provided in the passage, which one of the following principles would most hep support Carrol and Chen's innovative argument, described in the fourth paragraph?" Currently the PT only has 26 RC questions on 7sage.

Hi all! I'm looking for some advice on how to close the gap between BR and timed logic games scores before the October test. Under timed PT conditions, I might miss up to 4 or 5 questions while I'm able to go -0 redoing games untimed during BR.

Does anyone have advice on how to close this gap, or more specifically how to improve time management on logic games? I've been drilling games regularly and feel pretty confident but for some reason this section sends me into panic mode on practice tests (and the real deal) and my ability to quickly make inferences/set things up properly from the get-go suffers.

Thank you!

soooo I did the writing, and forgot to show my paper during room scan, might have even missed half of my desk too tbh but I don't remember, and realized I forgot after I started writing on it...so I thought it would be late to show them then. Is this a major problem? lol...

Hi all. I just did my LSAT writing for the August test.

With about 18 minutes left, while I was at the end of my second paragraph, the program started lagging significantly and froze. It was stuck like that for a few minutes, and then I saw that my second paragraph had been deleted. I rewrote it and finished the rest of my essay in a rush but did not have time to go back and proofread. Literally as I wrote my final word (typing was still slow for me because of lags), the clock hit 0. After the test I went back and read my essay and there were some typos. Not terrible, but I know that if my work hadn't been deleted, I would've had at least 5 minutes at the end to proofread. Is this worth complaining about and rewriting for? Has anyone had success with redoing their LSAT writing? Thanks!

So I took the LSAT flex last week and I didn't feel terrible after. I thought that was a good sign considering I am someone who generally thinks of the worst case scenario (I never expect to do well and always anticipate worse than I actually did). However, my brain started over-thinking about my performance. Now, I'm worried that I didn't perform well and am anxiously waiting for scores to come out. I'm sure everyone deals with this to a degree, but I am just a super anxious and pessimistic person in general. So it's a bit hard for me to get my mind off the exam even though I know there's nothing I can do about it now. Any tips on maintaining a positive mindset? I feel like I'm spiraling lol

I don't want to do the complete test, I just want to do the timed individual section (for example I to drill all logic games from a certain PT) and then review just that section rather than the full test?