Second Guessing My Original Answer

armani__

So I have been Blind Reviewing for the past two weeks since I am new to 7sage. Before i used Blueprint as well as The LSAT Trainer but heard very good things about 7sage. Anyways I was wondering if anyone else second guesses themselves when they are Blind Reviewing. For many questions I am getting wrong that i Blind Reviewed because I wasn't 100% sure if it was correct i end up second guessing myself and chose a wrong answer when the correct answer was my original answer if that makes sense lol. Let me know if this is happening to you as well and any tips?

inactive

I'm almost certain that's something everyone has dealt with at one point. Getting better comes with time - the more you BR, the more you'll learn exactly what you're looking for in an answer. Generally you want to be able to be 100% certain that the question is correct before moving on, but that also comes with time.

TimLSAT180

I'll give you a good example of what happened with me just yesterday when I was drilling an RC passage timed. After doing all the questions, I BR-ed and changed two answers, both of which turned out to be the case in which I had changed from the correct answer choice to the wrong one. This kind of thing happens with almost every test-taker and it's a big revelation because it tells me that I can get correct answer choices without actually being 100% sure that I know it's right or why it's right in the first place. So, really when these things happen, I become very disappointed with myself and try to figure out what went wrong during my BR process. Yesterday, for example, I simply lost focus during my BR process and read the other answer choices carelessly or I didn't care to analyze the passage enough to confirm my original answer. There can be other reasons besides the ones I just stated, but whatever reason it may be, you have to write down a note saying to remind yourself that you won't repeat the same mistake again. I wrote something like "I have to focus during BR and read each answer choice carefully" or "I have to make sure that I analyze the passage fully during BR by writing out the main point for each paragraph, the attitude/tone for the passage, the author's evaluative statements, etc." So do whatever it takes to make sure you don't repeat the mistake again. Hope this helps!

rafaelito

Yes, this has happened to me, quite recently in fact. Two thoughts:

1) I honestly think that when we change our answer choice from the right one to a wrong one during BR, we didn't actually fully comprehend the question the first time around. More than likely it was luck that got you there or your good instincts. Good instincts are not a bad thing nor are they something that we should suppress. However, if it was good instincts it's important to bring those to the forefront. We want to know what we did right and know why, during the BR, we reasoned our way to the wrong answer choice. I think this is part of the process of unlearning and relearning "reasoning" which we all think we're great at before we take our diagnostic.

2) This quote from @doohocho speaks to me. "That I can get correct answer choices without actually being 100% sure that I know it's right or why it's right in the first place." I think this is something that we have to get used to (eventually). I also think this goes hand in hand with developing good elimination skills. Sometimes it's much easier to tell why answer choices are wrong than why they are right.

Of course, this is my opinion but I am opened to hearing other views on this phenomenon.

twssmith

@armani__, @doohocho, @RafaelBernard

Hopefully I can change your mindset on this "phenomenon" you are experiencing:)
Taking a timed PT is a part of learning how to prepare to write the LSAT, however the blind review process is where the actual learning experience happens. Learning the fundamentals is necessary to understand the test but actually learning how to execute them on timed PTs is another aspect that many people gloss over during their prep.

Practice tests are exactly what they are - practice. Recognizing that sounds over-simplified, the main objective of "practicing" something is to be able to learn how to become proficient at the task. Unfortunately, many people do not realize that the practice of taking timed PT's is only giving a small piece of the puzzle to become proficient to reach your target score. While timed PT's can provide insight on how you could perform when writing the test, the purpose of this practice is to expose and identify areas of weakness.

Please take the time to thoroughly blind review with as much or more dedication that you would under timed practice - that means when you are BRing a question that you cannot answer with 100% confidence and complete understanding - write out your thought process. Completely break down the stimulus, i.e. if argument - support/conclusion - ask why is it flawed, what is the gap/assumption, what can you anticipate in answer choices or what are potential trap answer choices based on question type, is it a cookie cutter type of question that with practice you can answer in 35 seconds or less in the future. If still not 100% sure, ask in the forums to make sure you completely understand to ensure you won't miss a similar question in the future.

Blind Review is to verify/confirm your fundamentals learned in the core curriculum and then learn how to implement test taking strategies to adapt to the nuances of the test. Not doing a thorough blind review is only short changing your PT experience and sadly I learned this lesson the hard way when I started re-taking PTs and realized that I had not learned from my past BR and was still just as confused on certain questions the 2nd go around as the 1st. Every question on the LSAT can be understood at least at some level - even the horrific curve breakers. I hope you won't deprive yourself of seriously dedicating yourself to BR rather than just hope when you see a similar question in the future that you have to rely on your gut instead of confidence to choose the correct answer.
Hope this helps:)

tanes256

@RafaelBernard said:
1) I honestly think that when we change our answer choice from the right one to a wrong one during BR, we didn't actually fully comprehend the question the first time around.

Bingo! I've changed correct answers plenty of times and after further review I can see that it's normally one of my weaknesses. This just tells me that I still have work to do to fully understand my task for that question type.