Question for Logic Translation (When to & When Not to)

MattLaP323

What is your strategy for determining when and when not to translate into logic while answering a Sufficient Assumption question?

Do you prefer to read the stimulus through and then translate to logic? Or do you prefer to translate into logic as you read through the stimulus?

The former is easier for me but it takes up too much time compared to the latter, which makes me loose my understanding of the stimulus.

I need a more time efficient method to deploy for this q-stem category.

Any suggestions, tips or practice habits/methods would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks]!!

#HELP

Slow is Fast

If you are losing understanding while you read the stimulus, you should not continue with this method. Your goal is to earn points on the test. The best tactic to use right now is the one that will get you the point on the SA question.

At the very beginning of my studies, I started off reading the stimulus for understanding first, and then returning to re-read and diagram on paper. This was because my conditional logic skills weren't great yet. Over time, I have gotten better and now I read the stimuli while also seeing the conditional chains. As I've gotten more proficient, I diagram less. Basically, your approach will match your level of proficiency, and it will be a natural switch over.

You have to do what works for you right now to get the point. It doesn't help you to be worried about time when you should actually be worried about getting the question correct. Speed follows accuracy.

Jordan Johnson

@MattLaP323 I agree with what Nancy ( @"Slow is Fast" ). I would add the following:

• If you're able to diagram while reading the stimulus (without losing accuracy), do that. As soon as I see a Sufficient Assumption with Conditional Language, I always start writing while I'm reading it. Sometimes I don't have to look at my diagram/notes because just the process itself helped me internalize it. That would save you time, as compared with doing a second read-through in order to diagram.

• Don't stop diagramming until you're at a point where, if someone asked you to diagram it, you'd be able to do so with no problem. People who stop diagramming in order to gain speed too early tend to have difficulty diagramming more convoluted stimuli when asked... and their accuracy suffers because of it.

Hope that helps!

MattLaP323

Thank you both for your insight @"Slow is Fast" and @"Jordan Johnson" I will keep fine-tuning my proficiency with conditional language so that my accuracy continues to improve! Thanks again!!