Irrelevance in Wrong Answer Choices

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• 1 Like

  Habeas Porpoise Alum Member Sage ⭐

  February 2019 edited February 2019 1866 karma

  Definitely don't let yourself get away with saying something is "irrelevant" or "out of scope."
  Letting ourselves off easy just takes away from the point of practice questions -- to learn from our mistakes so we don't repeat them. What do you learn, exactly, by saying an AC is "irrelevant?"

  I know it may seem tedious and sometimes we fall into a bad habit of just wanting to "get through" drills or questions or PTs, but BR and other forms of intense review are key to mastering the test. Simply recognizing an error is fine for those easy questions, but as you get to those tricky four/five star questions, being able to honestly identify why an AC doesn't fit might be the difference between getting that question right or falling for a trap AC. There's a reason why every wrong AC is a 100% wrong, just like there's a reason why the right AC is 100% correct. If you take the time to identify that clearly now as you practice, it'll be second nature on the real thing.

  Now this is actually irrelevant, but your username is making me crave mochi.
• 2 Likes

  Lucas Carter Alum Member ⭐

  February 2019 2804 karma

  Think of your explanations like an argument that needs to be sound. Simply writing "irrelevant" is just like declaring a conclusion without a supporting premise. Treat your reasoning like a premise to an ultimate conclusion of right or wrong.
• KeepCalm Alum Member

  February 2019 edited February 2019 807 karma

  I agree with both @"Habeas Porpoise" and @"Lucas Carter", spending the time to explain to yourself how and why an AC is incorrect will serve to be fruitful when I first started BR-ing, I would often tag an answer choice as "irrelevant" or "out of scope". I would only know then why I opted to eliminate it.

  Over time, I realized that understanding the error(s) in one AC for a question could serve to help [me] in another. When I would review old PTs, (or just question specific for reference) I would read my commentary. I dreaded seeing "IRR" (irrelevant). I wanted to know exactly why I saw it as irrelevant, I wanted to understand my own interpretation. "IRR" gave me back almost nothing in return. Providing an explanation pushes you to really dive into your interpretation and the added benefit is that you retain the information. You may find yourself exploring other ideas that you only considered during your explanation (which could benefit you even more!)

  Definitely take advantage of knowing/pointing out something in that moment, your future self will thank you!
• 1 Like

  Pride Only Hurts Alum Member

  February 2019 2186 karma

  I think it’s a bad habit in BR but I think it’s acceptable under timed conditions. If something is truly irrelevant then cross it out and move on. In blind review you should be able to say what makes it irrelevant and what would it take to make that an attractive answer choice.
• 1 Like

  Mochiosis Alum Member

  February 2019 27 karma

  Thanks everyone. I think there's some good advice in all of your responses.

  When I've tried to expand on an answer choice I've marked as irrelevant, I've found that for most of them irrelevant means "this could apply to both the argument and its negation and have the exact same effect." I'm sure as I encounter more in my BRs there will be opportunities to characterize them differently, but this seems like a good start.
• jkjohnson1991 Alum Member

  February 2019 766 karma

  Took me a while to get out of this habit myself. I was quick to label "irr" early on in my BR to obvious wrong answers and like some have already said, it isn't going to be that helpful in the long run.
• 1 Like

  Better every day Member

  February 2019 246 karma

  @Mochiosis said:
  When blind reviewing, are you satisfied with just writing "irrelevant" as your explanation for why an answer choice is incorrect?

  That's what I've been doing, but I sense that I might be cheating myself out of a deeper insight here. Is there something to trying to expand on/further characterize the irrelevance, or is this just a fruitless exercise?

  Sometimes an answer truly is just irrelevant, but you should make sure you understand exactly why it had no impact on the argument. A great thing JY does on some of the explanations is he will slightly change the wording of a wrong answer choice to make it right. You can easily do this with some “irrelevant” answer choices and it will help make sure you fully understand the argument.
• 1 Like

  Princess Alum Member

  February 2019 821 karma

  Wow! This was so helpful and insightful to look at it. I also need to stop writing irrelevant or just crossing it off right away. Sometimes, I feel like I'll just know the right answer and can't explain it, but I know it is right. How do you guys go about that? I feel like I should trust my gut because clearly it is going in the right direction, but I'm scared that it may not work all the time. Any suggestions?