Help: Struggling with SA/PSA questions. What are some resources I can engage besides 7Sage?

mixedlaw

I am 25% through the core curriculum and just finished the "Sufficient Assumption & Pseudo Sufficient Assumption Questions" section. After doing all the lessons and problem sets, I am still struggling to get SA and PSA correct. Something just isn't clicking. I watch all of the explanations but they feel very abstract to me. Is there another resource I can engage (LSAT Trainer, Power Score, Khan, etc.) that can help teach me these concepts in a different way? I think a new approach might be helpful, but the only study resource I've ever used is 7Sage (which for the record, I love). I'm desperate, because I know how foundational these questions are to doing well on LR. Any tips/advice?

Lucas Carter

So in SA and PSA questions we are seeking to create a valid argument- the answer choice will make the original premise guarantee the conclusion. In other words, the correct answer will be sufficient to guarantee a valid argument.

Here is a short Youtube clip on Valid Arguments that might help:

Cant Get Right

It sounds like your study strategies are passive rather than active. If you're studying this by watching explanations, you definitely won't be seeing meaningful improvement. You've got to be more active and put yourself more in the thick of it. Don't just work the question and then watch the explanation. Study the question; break it apart logically and grammatically; sweat and bleed over it; struggle through and triumph over it. Only then should you go to the video, and you should not be going for explanation but for collaboration--JY's input, not his solution.

mixedlaw

@"Cant Get Right" Thanks for that insight. To get slightly more concrete, are you suggesting that I do something more than do the problem myself and then watch the explanation? Currently my approach has been to work the question on my own, come up with an answer choice, check the answer choice, and then watch J.Y.'s video to see what his approach was. What are some suggestions about how I could study differently and more effectively?

Cant Get Right

In review, you should be pushing beyond getting to an answer. Getting the answer isn't the goal. Complete understanding is the goal, and there is a huge gulf between the answer and complete understanding. Here's my outline for my written BR reports:

A. Write a report for each question:
1. what do you think in review?
a. what is your interpretation of the stimulus?
b. what is your specific reasoning for each AC?
c. if your reasoning changes or clarifies from timed attempt:
i. what, specifically, changed or clarified your understanding of the meaning of the stimulus/AC?
ii. how does that change lead to a reinterpretation of the ACs?
iii. how can you better recognize similar mechanisms to avoid the same misinterpretation in the future?

This probably adds a few steps to what most people are doing, and these are really important at all levels of study and ability. It's not enough to study the test. You've, of course, got to study the test, but you've got to be more reflective and also study your own mind and how you're thinking about the test. If you missed a question, don't just find the right answer. You must figure out exactly what you were thinking about the question and identify exactly where your thinking was wrong. This is how you improve your understanding of the test--by directly studying your understanding of the test in addition to the test itself.

mixedlaw

@"Cant Get Right" Wow. Thank you so much. These additional BR steps feel like they will really help push me towards true understanding. Thank you!

One last question: while I am still in the CC should I be doing problem sets timed and then BRing them? Or is it better to do them untimed and slowly examine my reasoning while I am doing them?

Cant Get Right

You're welcome! In the CC, I wouldn't bother with timing. Timing is a whole separate beast. For now, just figure out the logic/language.

Cant Get Right

Another thing I'd add to this is to just, in general, be wary of accumulating tons of different resources. A lot of people end up with every LSAT book ever published on their shelf and every class and curriculum available under their belts without ever having gone in depth into any of it. 7Sage is the best as far as I'm concerned, but it is far better to study actively and in depth with even something like Princeton Review or noodles than to study with 7Sage passively.