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Inadvertent Memory Recall

Lsat taker22Lsat taker22 Alum Member
in General 315 karma

Hey all,

I'll dive right into it - I am struggling with something called an inadvertent memory recall (made the name up) when re-doing practice tests. I don't know if this is a real "science" thing or if someone in the community mentioned this already (searched after doing some light research) but its something I'm struggling with. I have my own solutions posted below and extremely curious to hear what you're thoughts are to avoid this habit.

Here's an example, about 2-3 months ago I wrote PT 73 and recently re-took it. I noticed that I was inadvertently 'lax' when doing both LR sections, which at the time felt strange. While I was in 'lax mode' (which I try to avoid at all times) in the LR sections, however, I caught myself recalling bits of information I remembered up when I first took the exam! This is clearly a big no-no as it can lead to a highly inaccurate score, hinder my ability to get better and, worst of all, it may as well be a false indicator of genuine improvements. My last PT was a 168, but after taking PT 73 my score was 155! I practically went back to my 'old self' when I re-took this exam when, clearly, I improved.

My 2 solutions to this accident are as follows:

  • Purposefully give yourself tunnel vision and magnify into each word when reading the LR stim.

  • If a piece of 'old self' information creeps up on you while doing an LR question, quickly sling your ass back to reality (much like a rubber band) and restart at the top of the stim.

That's my 2 cents. Curious to hear other remedies or advice!

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