Flaw in the Reasoning questions require you to identify the underlying logical flaw in the argument. Over time, Flaw questions have become among the most common question types on the Logical Reasoning section of the LSAT. In fact, they account for approximately 15% of all questions and 30% of all First Family questions. Your next test will likely contain as many Flaw questions as all Main Point, Method, Parallel, Parallel Flaw, and Cannot Be True … [Read more...]
Straw Man Arguments: Logical Reasoning Flaws
Of all the logical flaws you might encounter on test day, a "straw man" argument not only has the most interesting name (and "straw man" is actually the proper name used in logic for this flaw), it also provides some of the most entertaining examples. In the context of an LSAT question, however, the usage is fairly predictable.Typically, you'll see a stimulus with two speakers. The second speaker will reframe the first speaker's argument in a … [Read more...]
How to Avoid the 2 Most Common Mistakes in LSAT Conditional Reasoning
A student of ours who's working through the PowerScore Logical Reasoning Bible asked a common question the other day, and I want to share it, and my response, with you. Specifically she's been struggling with Mistaken Negations and Mistaken Reversals in conditional reasoning, and asked if I could help her better understand those two errors. Here's my reply: Common Roadblock Conditional reasoning is a tricky concept for a lot of people, so don’t … [Read more...]
What Questions Matter the Most in Logical Reasoning?
In every LSAT class I teach, sooner or later the same inquiry pops up: "What’s the most important type of question in Logical Reasoning?" Students asking this question often remind me of an ER nurse, triaging patients based on the seriousness of their condition. Hopefully, you won’t find yourself in this predicament, having to triage your study of Logical Reasoning. But if you must, here’s some advice:While it is difficult to say which … [Read more...]
The Genesis of an LSAT Question, Part II
Continuing on with our discussion from Part I, let’s take the text from the article and turn it into a proto-LSAT Logical Reasoning stimulus: “In the country of Downlandia, over 100,000 people currently live in towns with populations of fewer than 100 residents. This is an increase of over 20,000 people from a decade ago.” With this very rough “stimulus” in hand (which at this point is just a fact set), we can examine the three question types … [Read more...]
The Genesis of an LSAT Question, Part I
The other day I was reading an article about a town in the US with just two residents. In the middle of the article, the following text caught my attention: “The 2010 Census found 13 hamlets with one or two residents, including Lotsee, Okla., Gross, Neb., and Bonanza, Utah. About 119,000 people live in towns with fewer than 100 residents, up from 79,000 a decade earlier. Mr. Cantrell suspects the increase is due largely to towns shrinking below … [Read more...]