Misreading rules!!

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• 3 Likes

  andrew.rsn Alum Member

  June 2021 831 karma

  It may help you to think about LG like you would RC. spend more time upfront reading the stimulus and rules, and setting up the game board, and less time on the questions. Don't give yourself the chance to misread the rules by rushing. spending an extra 30 seconds to a minute upfront will save you so much time in the long run.

  J.Y recommends to actually put your pencil down when you're reading the stimulus and rules. Doing this allows you to focus all of your attention on what you're reading as opposed to splitting your attention between reading and writing.

  Also it may help to familiarize yourself more with how rules such as the one you mention are written. "When J is in, Y cannot be in" is a super common rule known as the "Cannot Both" rule, meaning at least 1 of them has to be out. Not to say that you aren't familiar already, it just doesn't seem like its automatic for you yet.

  I would recommend you do a lot of timed drills of In/Out Games to help you quickly comprehend these rules.

  Good luck!
• 1 Like

  canihazJD Alum Member Sage ⭐

  June 2021 edited June 2021 8318 karma

  Incorporate a double check into your form/process. Example:

  read rule - "If JY buys an alligator then he must buy a bonobo."

  visually represent rule - A → B

  read visual representation - "if A then B"

  translate back into language and check against original rule - "if A then B" = "If JY buys an alligator then he must buy a bonobo." Good to go!

  eliminate AC from acceptable situation question

  push rules together and look for inference

  repeat

  ...or something like that. It should only take a few seconds. No longer if not faster than whatever you're already doing. If it's just what you always do, you won't be missing any rules, and you will also have the confidence in your diagrams needed to be fast.
• 1 Like

  Jordan Johnson Member ⭐

  June 2021 686 karma

  I think @canihazJD's iterative double-check is incredibly useful (I'm going to start doing that myself).

  An additional way that I generally catch if I've written a rule down incorrectly is if, in an initial setup question, one of the rules knocks out more than one of the answer choices. For instance, on a recent PT, a rule said "H or J must be in 7", but I notated it as "H/J_1". That "rule" alone eliminated three of the five "possible world" answer choices, so I knew I messed something up.

  If I don't catch it right away, it sometimes it takes me until the second or third question in a game to recognize that I wrote something down incorrectly (e.g., when there's either more than one possible correct answer, or all of the ACs can be eliminated). It only takes a minute or so to fix the set-up and click through the previous questions to make sure that they weren't affected by the error. Try doing that next time you realize you wrote something incorrectly, instead of restarting/redoing the game completely.

  Hope that helps!
• 2 Likes

  canihazJD Alum Member Sage ⭐

  June 2021 edited June 2021 8318 karma

  @"Jordan Johnson" said:
  If I don't catch it right away, it sometimes it takes me until the second or third question in a game to recognize that I wrote something down incorrectly (e.g., when there's either more than one possible correct answer, or all of the ACs can be eliminated). It only takes a minute or so to fix the set-up and click through the previous questions to make sure that they weren't affected by the error. Try doing that next time you realize you wrote something incorrectly, instead of restarting/redoing the game completely.

  This is worth reemphasizing. You can and should try to go back and fix mistakes. While I don't think there is a bigger FUUUUUUUUCCCK moment on this test, you should plan for this and in our ideal state even be comfortable with it. You recognize the problem, and neutralize it efficiently because you're a killer, then be all like is that all you got LSAC?

  https://media.giphy.com/media/10MGhMGr4WCiVW/giphy.gif
• 2 Likes

  Burt Reynolds Alum Member Sage ⭐

  June 2021 957 karma

  Great advice from @canihazJD and @"Jordan Johnson" per usual

  I often found that misreading rules on logic games comes from reading too quickly, so I'll put my finger on the screen to make sure I've read every word correctly. It feels like I'm a first grader....but whatever works, right?

  JY used to recommend tapping each word with your pencil, but I wouldn't recommend doing this to your computer screen. Really, we need to slow down and comprehend what we're reading.

  We can double check by using the actual rules (not our visual representation) when doing the acceptable situation question. If this question gives you ANY difficulty, you likely made a silly mistake.

  Best of luck!
• gfiesta28 Core Member

  June 2021 47 karma

  I second @"Burt Reynolds" suggestion! I use my cursor and "follow" the words. Good luck!
• CadLawSchooler Member

  June 2021 48 karma

  Hi all! These are such great suggestions! I’ve been implementing all of them, particularly incorporating a rule check process as part of the set-up. Does it take a few extra seconds? Yes! Is the worth the time? Also yes!
  It’s incredible just how easy it is to mess up a rule - it’s like something extra special happens under time pressure, making you mess up! But hopefully confidence and practice and double/triple checking should do the trick!