How to get faster at the logic games?

scout244

Hi,
I have been practicing logic games for a month now and I am still not getting any faster. I don't know what to do, I still cannot finish them in the allotted time. What has helped all of you get faster at these?

Matt Sorr

A couple of questions:

• Have you been fool proofing games? Or have you more typically been doing each game that you try once or twice?

• If you have been fool proofing, have you tried fool proofing the games by their type rather than randomly?

scout244

@"Matt Sorr" What do you mean by foolproofing?

Matt Sorr

In essence, “fool proofing” is doing a logic game repeatedly until you can complete that game under the target time and without missing any questions. The reasoning behind this method is that logic games, by nature, tend to fit into a few categories, and each of the games within these categories have inferences that repeat. By doing a game repeatedly until you’re extremely good at it, you hammer these key inferences into your brain. This allows you to make these inferences quicker on future games and, as a result, complete future games much quicker and more accurately.

If you have a 7Sage membership, here is a link from the core curriculum where JY explains fool proofing logic games:

• https://7sage.com/lesson/fool-proof-guide-to-perfection-on-logic-games/

Additionally, here is a link to a slightly tweaked fool proofing method that many people, including myself, swear by:

• https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/2737/logic-games-attack-strategy/p1

If you can’t access these links for any reason, please just let me know and I can explain the “fool proofing” method to you more thoroughly.

Personally, I’ve only been fool proofing games for a little while and I’m already seeing major improvement. And, for what it’s worth, I used to struggle to finish any game accurately under 10 minutes. I recommend the fool proofing method to everybody.

Kitty McMaster-1

Do you do fool proofing literally 10 times in a roll on one game? Or do you space it out like once a day on the same game?

I feel like if I do it 10 times, I am memorizing the answers instead of figuring it out.

Matt Sorr

@"Kitty McMaster" I do each game once, then watch the explanation video, then redo it immediately after, then I attempt it again the next day, and then one last time a week later. So, in total, I do a game four times. The method I’m describing is often referred to as the “Pacifico Method.” This forum post explains it: https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/2737/logic-games-attack-strategy/p1

u______u

@"Kitty McMaster" said:
Do you do fool proofing literally 10 times in a roll on one game? Or do you space it out like once a day on the same game?

I feel like if I do it 10 times, I am memorizing the answers instead of figuring it out.

If you're relying on your memory to find the answers, then it sounds more like your goal is simply to get the right answer each time. You should aim to really understand how the game works like how all the various inferences play out so that understanding of the game leads you to the answer instead of your
memory.

@sairasalyani said:
Hi,
I have been practicing logic games for a month now and I am still not getting any faster. I don't know what to do, I still cannot finish them in the allotted time. What has helped all of you get faster at these?

Just keep doing games. I used to be in your position and had to grind a lot of games just to be able to finish on time. You need to realize that the amount of work it takes to get there varies per person but that you'll eventually get there.

C_S_D 01

u__u: I also have the same result. No matter how much I am "thinking through" the steps of the game, my visual memory prompts me to the correct answer immediately because I just know the correct AC by name. It's not that we are trying to do this or trying to sabotage our learning process, it's just automatic and the way the brain works.

KevinLuminateLSAT

I think it'd help to reframe how you are thinking about success when you re-do games. It doesn't matter whether you know the correct answer from memory - that shouldn't detract from the value of doing the game because your goal is not merely getting the questions correct. Your goal is to take the necessary diagramming and inferential steps that would allow you to see how you would get the questions correct efficiently.

If you pick an answer because you remember it's correct, but you haven't drawn out the work that would allow you to easily prove that it's correct (or would allow you pick the correct answer through process of elimination), then you're not benefitting from re-doing the game. In fact, if you didn't actually draw or visualize enough to mentally prove to yourself that the answer is correct, then mark that question as wrong in your mind regardless of whether you picked the correct answer.

One thing that might help is to think of yourself as a teacher. When you re-do a game, you're trying to teach the game to someone who hasn't seen the game before. Using that mindset - can you imagine how your student would respond if you just say "E is correct because my brain remembers that it's the right answer."

Here's an example that might help.

Let's say we were doing a super-easy 5 space ordering game where the rules showed that A is before B, and B is before both C and D. E is a floater variable.

Let's say the question is "If C is third, which of the following could be true?"

The answers are
(a) A is second.
(b) B is fourth.
(c) E is second.
(d) E is before B.
(e) D is fifth.

From having done the game before, you know that (e) is correct. But when re-doing the game, you wouldn't just pick (e). You'd draw out a new diagram and put C in 3. Then you'd look at the ordering chain you drew and see that A and B must come before C, so A goes 1 and B goes 2. Then you'd notice that D and E are the remaining variables to be put down, that there's no relationship between them, and then you'd recognize that D and E are switching off between 4 and 5.

At that point, there are 2 options. The first is you'd look at (a), (b), (c), and (d) and see why they are not correct as demonstrated by the diagram you drew. Then you'd pick (e) and confirm from your diagram that it could be true.

The other option is you'd say that because the question is asking what could be true, it's likely to be about the variables that are not fixed into a particular spot - D and E in this case because they're switching off in 4 and 5. Then you would scan the answers looking for something related to D or E can go in 4 or 5, you'd see (e) and then know that it's correct.

You'd think through all of this no matter whether you remember that (e) is correct or not. That's the process of re-doing games.

u______u

@"C_S_D 01"
To clarify: there's a difference between knowing the answer and knowing how and why something is the answer. It's completely reasonable to expect somebody to memorize the answer after doing a game multiple times. But knowing the answer doesn't mean you understand the processes that make that the correct answer. A good benchmark for full understanding would be to ask yourself if you understand the game well enough to explain it to someone else.