eliminating answer choices - good/bad reasoning

Malta_dcMalta_dc Core Member
in General 18 karma

Hi, In the Logical Reasoning section, how do you know when you’ve eliminated a wrong answer choice for the wrong reason (because of faulty reasoning) as oppose to a reason that's just different from what JY points out in the explanation video? Do you do anything specific to ensure that your thought process is not illogical, unreasonable, or out of bounds? Please comment.

Comments

  • Heart Shaped BoxHeart Shaped Box Alum Member ⭐
    edited September 2017 2426 karma

    I think it depends on the question types. Let's say a wrong AC for a MSS, the reason is wrong is bc it's irrelevant, (as lots of them are) meaning not being supported or even mentioned in the stimulus, then as far as "how" it's irrelevant I believe it could be arbitrary depends how you see it. J.Y. might think it's irrelevant bc of "X", and you might think it's irrelevant bc of "Y", but as long as you know it's irrelevant you should be good. In that case, your reasoning for the wrong AC might not necessarily be "faulty" even though it might be different from that of J.Y.'s.

    Now, that might be different for a flaw or weakening question. For those question types, the author intentionally embedded a underlying flaw in the argument expecting you to expose that flaw and unwarranted assumption. (Suff/nece confusion, biased sample etc) Then we really need to have a sense of what that flaw is and eliminate wrong ACs that aren't touching the flaw without bringing outside knowledge. In that case, if J.Y. eliminated a wrong AC bc it's not touching the flaw, but you did bc of you know it isn't true in our "real world", that's when we might need some review and deeper analysis. Same goes with correct AC, I've seen many instances folks pick the correct AC for incorrect reasons and we would really wanna avoid that, for luck isn't a thing we wanna depend on.

    Of course, those are just a few extreme examples may or may not be your case. And the way I approach it to make sure I understand the argument/stimulus first before going into ACs. Even tho there are many times I still couldn't pin point the issue of the argument, I have a general sense of the directions I'll be looking at and that helps me eliminate the wrong ACs quickly, efficiently and helpfully, accurately. :)

  • NotMyNameNotMyName Alum Member Sage ⭐
    5320 karma

    The best way to reach this level of confidence is to write question analyses for as many questions as you can get your hands on. There is no shortcut to this knowledge (unless you naturally hold the intuition) unfortunately. Over time, cookie-cutter wrong answer choices will become more and more evident to you. You'll develop a sharper sense of when an AC can definitely be eliminated and also for when you can't eliminate it but don't know why. The latter took me a long time to institute because I would just eliminate it. Now I just eliminate what I can and leave the rest to return to.

    So basically, if this is something you want to improve, but do it lots and lots of times. Post your question analyses and let others pick it apart. Comment on the posts of others', too.

  • Malta_dcMalta_dc Core Member
    18 karma

    Thank you Heart Shaped Box and jkatz1488! I appreciate your insights.

    So, here's some golden nuggets I gathered from your comments...

    1- the question type matters - pay close attention to the question stem - make sure you're choosing and not choosing an answer based on the specific parameter(s) set forth in the q-stem

    2- write question analyses as often as possible in order to build confidence and an awareness for when an answer choice is definitely wrong

    3- if you don't know why an answer choice is wrong, leave it - return to it for a 2nd or 3rd round

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