• Contact Us
  • Student Login
  • My Cart

LSAT and Law School Admissions Blog

You are here: Home / Studying / Practice and Over-Practicing for the LSAT

August 26, 2016

Practice and Over-Practicing for the LSAT

Practice and Over-Practicing for the LSAT

In a Time article on over-practicing, there are several good pieces of advice for LSAT test-takers. From that advice, we can draw some guidelines on how you should prepare for the LSAT. Let’s take a look at what they said and what it means for you.

The Article

The article references a study published by the Journal of Neuroscience. In this study, researchers observed subjects performing tasks repeatedly and measured energy expenditure as they completed tasks. At first, the subjects expended a lot of energy. Then, as they kept up the task, the energy expenditure kept dropping. This makes sense! They became more efficient as they repeated the task. What happened next however, is super interesting. The study involved a physical activity. As the muscular activity stabilized (meaning no less muscle energy was being expended), the subjects continued to expend less energy. Why? Their brains got more and more efficient. They would expend less and less energy.

In LSAT Terms

As they kept practicing the task, even though there was no apparent improvement in how they were doing, their brains continued to become more economical. It resulted in more energy available over the long haul of the test. As the article notes, “The perfect execution of a piano sonata or a tennis serve doesn’t mark the end of practice; it signals that the crucial part of the session is just getting underway.” This is a salient point for LSAT takers. Even when no apparent progress is being made, keep on practicing! You’re ingraining the activity deeply into your neural pathways. Over time, this will make you more efficient, a better test-taker. Literally, your brain can go on auto-pilot during the test with no loss in performance. That’s an immense advantage and keeps you fresher and mentally more energetic as the test wears on.

So, once you start nailing full sections of Logical Reasoning or Logic Games, that’s not the time to stop. That’s the exact moment to keep on studying. You will continue to get better and better, even if you can’t see that happening physically. As the lead researcher states, “We have shown there is an advantage to continued practice beyond any visible changes in performance.” So study hard, and long too.

Facebook0Tweet0Pin0Email0

Posted by Dave Killoran / Studying / LSAT Prep, Mentality Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Subscribe to our LSAT Blog

Attend a PowerScore Webinar!
PowerScore Getting Started with the LSAT Guide

Categories

powerscore

What's the flaw in this reasoning? Have you encoun What's the flaw in this reasoning? Have you encountered a similar logical flaw when talking to friends and family?
•
•
•
#logicalreasoning #lsatlogic #lrsection #lsatprep #futurelawyer #lawschoolbound #digitallsat #findtheflaw #logicalflaw #logicalfallacy #logic
Use your scratch paper to think through questions! Use your scratch paper to think through questions! That's what it's there for.
•
•
•
#lsatprep #futurelawyer #lawschoolbound #logicgames #logicalreasoning #readingcomprehension #logic #lgtips #lrtips #rctips #lsattips
Tell us your top 3 dream schools! Where do you hop Tell us your top 3 dream schools! Where do you hope to attend?
•
•
•
#lawschool #dreamschool #futurejd #motivation #lsatprep #futurelawyer #lawschoolbound #digitallsat #inspirational #inspiration #dreambig #powerscore #admissions #lawadmissions #lawwaitlist
Follow Us!
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!