Posting on Behalf of a 7Sage User: Memorizing all the inferences for the logic games

Theo - Student Service

[I am posting on behalf of a 7Sage user. Please feel free to leave your comments below. Thank you for your help!]

"have another question about what JY means by memorizing all the inferences for the logic games. Lets say I memorize all the inferences like he says, the problem I is when test time comes I will be presented with a brand new logic game with a completely different set of inferences than I have memorized. The moment I'm given a new test wouldn't I be starting at square one again? Or isn't it like being asked to memorize a maze in order to find your way around a completely different maze? Am I not understanding something? Is is not so much "memorizing" as it is consciously understanding all of the inferences? Because if I memorize all of the inferences then I can get through the game without even thinking about what I'm doing. Does that make sense? Thanks for your help."

LOWERCASE EVERYTHING

i want to use chess as an analogy because i really want to use what i learned from a rc passage in real life, and feel better about the time i threw away on rc.

it is said that superior chess players are good at chess because they have exceptional memory for configurations of chess pieces, but only if those configurations are typical of chess games; with such intensive training, they have acquired the skills that circumvent basic limits on memory and the ability to process information (pt 71, passage 3).

i want to compare this to logic games. even if you're given a completely new game set, there are distinct patterns of inferences that the lsat tests you on. by fool-proofing the games, you're acquiring the skills to find yourself out of a maze through making similar inferences within the maze, not necessarily repeating your exact way out of a single maze from memory (you can't, because all games are different). a superior chess player may not encounter an exact game that they've played before, but they have acquired the skills to make superior moves from memory.

additionally, the "type" of maze that you'll encounter repeats, i.e. the game types. i admit that there may be one of those weird miscellaneous games, but it is likely that you'll encounter one or two questions that ask for a similar inference that you've practiced on before. at the very least, you'll be flying through the other "more normal" games and will have banked in enough time to tackle those weird games.

from personal experience, i've benefitted so much from fool-proofing. i think there's a bit more you may need to do if you want that -0/-1 consistently, but fool-proofing will give you a huge advantage / foundation.

good luck!

Quick Silver

First - I’m not sure of the exact wording the JY uses (he is the Authority imho)I don’t know if we can ever be 100% sure that we’ve gotten every in inference because there’s no Notification that pops up that says “congratulations you’ve gotten every inference”

BUT I certainly think what he means is you want to “maximize” inferences. That’s what I tell my students.

Again, there’s no notification like on a video game that will tell you that you’re done making inferences. (Although after the fact you will realize because you’ll probably end up route forcing way too many questions). What further complicates things is that students are understandably worried about time. So I urge my students to try to put aside that fear as best you can and push your comfort zones; stay just a little bit longer do at least an “extra look” to see if there’s anything you missed. Even just the process of looking for inferences will make you more comfortable with the dynamics of the game and put you in a better position when you get to the questions. Though ideally you want to maximize actual inferences. As I say, you don’t want to “leave money on the table.”

Two tips that can be helpful:

make it your goal to push yourself and at least give an extra look, really push yourself to do that before getting in the questions. Actively do that.
do some games UN-timed. Think about it - if you do games untimed you don’t have that fear of not having enough time for the questions. Certainly, you’re going to eventually do games timed but practice on a few just to see how many inferences you can make if you actually give yourself time. Do that enough and it will become habitual and easier to do when you’re in an actual timed game.

Cultivate a sense for when you’ve actually maximize inferences and when you need to cut bait and go into the questions. I really want to encourage you to hold that sense of pushing your comfort zone’s until you maximized inferences and, only then, go into the questions. It does eventually become instinctive.

Hope this helps!