Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Apply for Membership

Categories

Patterns in MBT/MSS Questions

calftempcalftemp Free Trial Member
in Logical Reasoning 121 karma

Hi 7sagers!

What kinds of patterns have you seen emerge in MBT/MSS questions? For example, I personally have seen that for conditional - heavy stimuli, LSAC loves to use mistaken reversals & mistaken negations as wrong answer choices.

Are there any other patterns that you have noticed -- perhaps other patterns in the answer choices, in the stimulus structure, or in the way the answer choices relate to the stimulus?

Show Related Discussions

Comments

  • Daniel.SieradzkiDaniel.Sieradzki Member Sage ⭐
    edited May 2017 2301 karma

    That is a great question. I look forward to seeing the responses you get.

    One thing I noticed with MSS questions, is that the correct answer is often a very weak answer. For example, if the stimulus talked about a new supplement for weightlifters and its impact on their performance/muscle gain, the correct answer will be something like "The supplement affects the performance/muscle gain of the people who take it in some way." When I first started on the LSAT, I would not pay attention to these answers because they seemed to obvious and weak, but they are right because they are supported and are in fact easy to support because they are so weak.

  • nessa.k13.0nessa.k13.0 Inactive ⭐
    edited May 2017 4141 karma

    Hi! Think of correct answers for MBT questions like a gold medal and MSS as silver in terms of the the amount of support and validity the option provides the stimulus.

  • Zachary_PZachary_P Member
    659 karma

    I second what @"Daniel.Sieradzki" observed. I would go so far to say the same holds true for MBT questions. I know I've encountered more than one MBT questions where the stimulus says something like "All politicians hold the position X" and the correct AC is something along the lines of "Some politicians hold the position X." Of course, the LSAT dresses it up with difficult grammar, but the concept of support for a weakly stated inference remains the same.

  • TheMikeyTheMikey Alum Member
    4196 karma

    I agree with everything above. I think of MSS questions as weak MBT questions, or simply could be true questions that have support. After I started thinking this way, MSS questions became easier.

    I tend to go for the weaker sounding ACs for both MSS and MBT, as they have said above. Especially in MBT questions when there is conditional logic being used, you definitely want to try and choose an AC that is weak sounding, unless you have evidence to support an AC that is stronger of course.

Sign In or Register to comment.