Checking MBT question answer choices after an inference...inconsistent on this point?

brigitte

Hi all,

I noticed in some recent videos JY recommends checking the MBT question answer choices as you make inferences so you don't do extra work. And in principle that makes sense. But it doesn't seem like that rule is consistently followed? Sometimes the videos go significantly further in making inferences before going to the answer choices, even going as far as to draw out multiple boards for a single question rather than checking the answers after an inference, then, if that's not there, going further down the inference chain. And sometimes the videos end up with the ultimate inference and then checks the answer choices for that ultimate inference even though there are multiple MBT inferences along the way. Is that process just skipped for time reasons in the videos? Or because checking in between each inference is sometimes counterproductive (makes you lose your train of thought)? Is there an element of hindsight when explaining knowing when to stop with a certain inference and when to go further?

The explanation for #21 in the PT82 game 4 is a good example (at ~14:00 minute mark):

The first MBT inference is that W gets S. The second MBT inference is that R doesn't get S. The third MBT inference is that R doesn't get M. The fourth MBT inference is that R gets J. Should we be checking the answers after every inference?

Harmmanb-1

It really depends on the time and difficulty of the game. I like to scan all the answers first, and then start working on it, and if an inference pops up that looks similar to an answer choice that I scanned over, I check it. As a rule of thumb, start at the begging of the inference chain, if you have had enough practice to the point where you don't loose your train of thought. This will all become automatic at some point.