Pattern of missing LR questions

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• 1 Like

  UsernameChange Free Trial Member

  January 2016 349 karma

  Typically speaking(this is not definite or exact by any means) I have found that the first 10 or so questions are the easiest in an LR section in general with maybe 1 or two difficult ones sprinkled in. So if you are missing questions in clusters around the 11-15 range and 16-20 range it could just be an increase in question difficulty. Especially since you mention that you aren't missing a specific type of question. I also was missing them in clusters like that when I initially started studying and the way I countered that was to breeze through the first ten and force myself to only allow like a minute and a half on the first few difficult questions you run into. You could be missing them in clusters because you run into a difficult question which causes you to become flustered and thus spend too much time on that question/rush on the next few to make up that perceived time difference.
• beth.flanders Alum Member

  January 2016 212 karma

  I've been experiencing the same issue as well and so far I've noticed two issues for myself.
  
  First with subject matter such as art and economics. Art has never been one my favorite subjects and economics is a close second. I find myself my putting up a mental fence when i see these types of questions and begin to assume that I won't get the correct AC whether in RC or LR. I attempt to take a deep breath and make myself more engaged with the stimulus.
  
  The other thing I've noticed is when I begin the next question and see that the stimulus and AC's are rather wordy and lengthy, I automatically assume it's going to be a difficult question.
  
  Unfortunately, I haven't overcome these two obstacles completely but at least i'm aware of the issue. So what I've been doing is slowing down a bit on these particular types of questions, try to be more engaged and rely heavily on POE. If I can eliminate 3 AC's quickly and cannot determine between the two AC's, I circle it and move on, hoping to have time to come back to them. I've seen some improvement where I don't get as many incorrect as what I had been and I'm hoping with more practice and awareness of my weakness in these situations, the upward trend will continue.
• Nicole Hopkins Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  January 2016 4344 karma

  @Sheri123 said:
  because I run into a difficult question & then loose confidence on the next few questions
  

  This would be my guess—I had a student who had this experience all the time. It seemed that she would get into a mental tailspin that would cause multiple otherwise unexplained misses in a row.
• runiggyrun Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  January 2016 edited January 2016 2481 karma

  Though not necessarily in clusters, the questions I miss always seem to be 12 and 18 (sometimes 19 too so I do think there's a "difficulty peak" around there. The analytics seem to confirm that those are areas rich in level 5 questions. It's possible that once you run into a tough question, even if you move on your mind stays fixated on it and clouds your judgement on the following few.