LSAT Study Guide

A guide to mastering the LSAT

[lsatprepper]

LSAT Logical Reasoning Lesson 4: Premises and Conclusions

Now that we understand the basic methods for identifying conclusions and premises in an argument, we can move along to more complex arguments. 

Often, the stimulus will have multiple premises. They do not have to occur in any particular order. For instance, a premise can be placed before or after a conclusion and in some questions one or more premises will appear in the same sentence as the conclusion. 

The important thing to note is that no matter where the premises are in the paragraph, the structure of the argument does not change. 

A few examples of how they might present a premise and a conclusion in a way meant to confuse the reader: 

Therefore, since peas are good for you, you should eat them. 

Notice the above example begins with a conclusion indicator and is followed by a premise in between the commas before presenting the conclusion. 

This same sentence could be portrayed in others ways but the conclusion and premise would not shift. 

For example: Since peas are good for you, you should eat them. 

This time the conclusion occurs without an indicator but the part following the comma is derived from the first part of the sentence containing the premise. 

There are other types of premises that can be found in the Logical Reasoning section. 

Additional premises are those that add to the argument but are not necessarily integral to the argument. For example: 

Peas are good for you. So you should eat them. Furthermore, they are high in fibre. 

In order to understand whether the additional premise is important, we need to simply look at the argument. Is the fact that peas are good for you related to their fibre content? Or is this just an additional piece of information? 

The other kind of premises often used are counter-premises where the author presents one idea and then counters it with a sort of rebuttal. For example: 

Peas are good for you. But other vegetables contain a higher fibre content. Nevertheless, you should eat peas. 

The conclusion remains the same but the author throws in a second counter-premise to cover the bases of his argument. 

[lsatprepper]

LSAT Logical Reasoning Lesson 3: Identifying the Conclusion and the Premise(s)

We'll dive into questions and more complex material shortly. First, it's important to have a solid grasp of the basics. Identifying premises and conclusions is perhaps the most valuable skill in mastering the Logical Reasoning section so we'll focus on this first. 

Let's start with a list of premise indicators that appear frequently in these questions. Remember, not all stimuli will us indicators but many will and knowing these will give you that extra edge to quickly move through the problem. 

Memorize these Premise Indicators: 

- because 

- due to 

- since 

- for example 

- for the reason that 

There are many other indicators on the test but these are some of the most commonly used and knowing them will help you recognize statements as premises. 

Memorize these Conclusion Indicators: 

- therefore 

- consequently 

- hence 

- clearly 

- follows that 

- thus 

- as a result 

The premises and conclusion need not be in any specific order. The conclusion can come first, in the middle or last and the same is true of the premise(s). 

As you read a question stimulus, circle the premise and conclusion indicators. 

And BEFORE moving onto the question stem, IDENTIFY THE CONCLUSION. 

[lsatprepper]

LSAT Logical Reasoning Lesson 2: More Basics

Most of the questions you will encounter in this section, will have an argument of some kind in the stimulus. If a stimulus contains an argument then it contains a conclusion. 

Your first step is to determine whether or not there is an argument and if there is, as there often will be, find the conclusion. 

Many prep guides suggest bracketing or circling the conclusion. This is a good piece of advice that can prove useful to maintain clarity and focus as you move through the answer choices. 

How to identify the conclusion: 

In it's most basic form, the conclusion is the "what." 

ASK YOURSELF: What does the author believe? What does the author want you to believe? What is the culmination of this stimulus? 

How to identify the premise: 

In it's most basic form, the premise is the "why." 

ASK YOURSELF: Why did the author arrive at that conclusion? Or how? What proof is there for the conclusion? Why should you believe what the author is saying?

If it is a strong argument, these will be easy to answer. We'll get to weak arguments later. 

This task may seem easy at first. Take a simple argument such as: 

Peas are good for you. So you should eat peas. 

What should you do? The second sentence is the conclusion. 

Why should you do it? The first sentence is the premise. 

The stimuli on the LSAT will not be as simple as this but it's good to get used to arguments in their simplest form before moving onto more complex ones with two or more premises and sometimes even two or more conclusions. 

[lsatprepper]

LSAT Logical Reasoning Lesson 1: The Basics

The Logical Reasoning portion of the LSAT constitutes 50% of your graded performance. 

As I learn tricks to help master each section of the LSAT, I will detail them here for others to use as study aids. 

The first lesson in the Logical Reasoning section is to ALWAYS read ALL of the answer choices. Even if you think you've arrived at the correct answer at choice "c" you need to ensure there is not a better answer that follows. (This is unlike the Analytical Reasoning Section.) 

This is because the Logical Reasoning section allows for multiple seemingly correct answer choices. Where one answer choice may answer the question, there may be another answer that is more correct. That means, it may satisfy more components, it may be a stronger answer, it may be a more deliberate answer. 

Furthermore, in taking practice questions from past exams, it seems one tactic meant to throw off those who are not reading all of the answer choices is to place a very strong answer choice immediately before the correct answer choice. 

That means, for those of you too hasty to read through to the end of the answer choices, you've now made a mistake and you aren't even aware of it. 

In the upcoming posts, I will walk through each question type that appears in the Logical Reasoning section and I will provide tips on how to best conquer each question type. 

Soon, you will be able to see that the topics used in these questions are almost totally irrelevant and that it is the underlying logical structure and relationship of each part of the stimulus (and how it interacts with the question stem) that will guide you to success. Not only is this the most practical and efficient method to deal with these question types, but it lessens the fear of receiving questions with highly complex scientific material. 

The topic is far less important that the structure. That is, the premises, the conclusion and how they interact with one another to create a strong or weak argument, what assumptions are present and what inferences can be drawn.