Careless mistakes

Julia L

Hey all,

Do you have any suggestions for preventing careless mistakes? For example, after you've completed a few questions, all of a sudden forgetting one of the rules, or one of the inferences. Is this just something you have to hone by practice? Or perfecting set-up and notation habits? Specific practical advice would be wonderful

Thanks!

Matt1234567

Oh, I'm so guilty of this, and at times, I get so frustrated at myself.

I've learned to refer back to my rules really quickly for every question. I also check off every rule the stimulus gives me once I've translated it down on paper, just to make sure I'm not missing anything.

But yeah, practice makes perfect.

c.janson35

You build an awareness of the rules and how they relate to each other as you practice. Initially you may have trouble keeping it all together, but it is definitely a skill you can improve on. Just he sure to clearly write your rules on your main diagram and don't write on it again if you can avoid it. I think the rules that I had the most trouble forgetting were the single not-rules that a game would give you at the beginning, such as "M cannot be the 4th shopper." I've come to write down /M under the 4th slot and circle it so that it's an easier visual clue for me to see. As you study, you'll probably develop your own tricks like this too.

gs556

Yeah, it comes with time. I used to get so mad when a careless mistake would ruin a question (or game) for me, but the mistakes diminished over time. As @c.janson35 said, you will develop tricks and awareness overtime. Just be methodological as you work through each game. Write clear and deliberately, be focused.