When to use 4 wrong = 1right strategy?

Comments

• Addistotle Member

  May 2016 328 karma

  As you're working down the answer choices with any question, if you're eliminating wrong answers as you go, once you reach E after eliminating the previous answers, you've made this the right formula!
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  MrSamIam Inactive ⭐

  May 2016 edited May 2016 2086 karma

  I don't like to think of the "4 wrong = 1 right" as a technique. Like J.Y. has mentioned, think of both as sufficient conditions - 1) Find the right AC, 2) Find the 4 wrong ACs. Failing either one will, in most cases (so technically not "sufficient") cause you to miss a point. Meeting either one PROPERLY, will in all cases lead you to the correct answer.
  
  As a general rule of thumb, use whichever technique works for the question that you are looking at. If you can see the 4 wrong answers but not the right answer, than bubble in whichever of the 5 you could not eliminate.
  If you can't eliminate all 4 wrong ACs, but can clearly see why one is correct, choose it and move on.
  During BR, go back and make sure you understand why each wrong AC is wrong, and why the correct one is correct. You don't have time to do this under timed conditions. But, it is imperative that you do, if you are aiming for a 170+, and in many cases a 160+.
• rosy tree Alum Member

  May 2016 5 karma

  I think you use the elimination technique (4 wrong ACs, 1 right AC) for all question types. The only ones that I would say to not use that strategy for is 'Identify the Conclusion' and very simple 'Sufficient Assumption' questions.
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  hlsat180 Free Trial Member

  May 2016 edited June 2016 362 karma

  @Shownuff said:
  Can anyone tell me when it's most prudent (with respects to sacrificing time) to use the 4 wrongs make it right formula? Are there question stems worded in ways (i.e. must be true, etc.) that would alert you to this, or are there specific questions types (i.e. parallel, etc.) that should signal using this approach
  

  @shownuff I think some folks are mixing up POE (certainly, there is overlap) with this technique. Indeed for LR and RC sometimes the wrong answers are more clear than the remaining "right" answer(s) - and you go with it. But this is more a "back up" rather than primary technique applied from the get-go.
  
  What you are asking for (as a primary technique) applies to LG Could Be True (CBT) questions because their quantitative nature allows for an approach tailored to question type.
  
  How so? Because Must Be True/False (MBT/F) answers are singularly absolute and therefore more efficient to identify. In contrast, Could Be True/False (CBT/F) answers present multiple possibilities and therefore take longer - plus risk being misidentified if all possibilities are not correctly accounted for.
  
  For example, for any MBT question, only one correct answer MBT. Four incorrect answers CBF (and occasionally MBF). Therefore the most efficient method is to simply check for and identify the MBT answer then move on. There is no logical need to waste time checking all the incorrect CBF possibilities (i.e., if double-checking then time is better spent double-checking the sole MBT answer).
  
  On the other hand, for any CBT question, only one correct answer CBT. Four incorrect answers MBF. The most efficient and accurate method is to check for and eliminate the four MBF answers. There is no logical need to check the correct answer unless double-checking (if you have time, to confirm your rules understanding, etc.). A common application of this technique is to Acceptable Situation questions: you apply one rule at a time to screen out answers, and the last remaining is the correct answer.
  
  Using this technique (plus understanding the underlying rationale = confidence) optimizes a balance of efficiency (time) and effectiveness (accuracy). HTH
  
  tldr: eliminate 4 wrongs for LG CBT/F; find 1 right for LG MBT/F
• Shownuff Alum Member

  June 2016 222 karma

  @ hLSAT180... what a thoroughly amazing response! Just 1 more question for clarity... did you mean to say LG/Analytical Reasoning (from lines 5 onwards), or LR Logical Reasoning -'cause I sometimes write one when I mean the other and vice versa. Thank you.
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  hlsat180 Free Trial Member

  June 2016 edited June 2016 362 karma

  @Shownuff said:
  LG/Analytical Reasoning
  

  This. Only LG/AR have CBT questions. Glad to help.