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LSAT Logical Reasoning Study Guide

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Understand the basic structure and format of Logical Reasoning questions on the LSAT: Logical
Reasoning questions are designed to test your ability to analyze, evaluate and construct
arguments
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The Logical Reasoning section of the LSAT is designed to assess your ability to understand,
analyze, and evaluate arguments
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For example, the question may ask you to identify the main point of the argument, which is the
overall conclusion or claim that the passage is trying to make
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Another key element of Logical Reasoning questions is the evidence used to support the main
point
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You
may be asked to identify the evidence used to indicate whether it is strong or weak
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This refers to logical
fallacies, inconsistencies, or gaps in the passage’s reasoning
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Overall, Logical Reasoning questions on the LSAT are designed to test your ability to understand
and analyze complex arguments
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Practice identifying the main conclusion and premises in arguments: The main conclusion of an
argument is the point that the argument is trying to prove
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Identifying the main conclusion and premises is
essential for understanding and evaluating an argument
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It is the overall claim or statement that the argument is trying to make
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They are the
logical steps or facts that the argument uses to back up its claim
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You can start by analyzing short passages or arguments to practice identifying the main
conclusion and premises by identifying the main point or claim that the argument is trying to
make and then look for the statements or evidence used to support it
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It is worth noting that some arguments may have a vague main conclusion or premises
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Identifying an argument's main conclusion and premises is essential for understanding and
evaluating arguments
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3
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Learn to recognize common reasoning patterns, such as deductive and inductive reasoning:
Deductive reasoning is a form where the conclusion necessarily follows from the premises
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Deductive and inductive reasoning are common patterns you will encounter in the Logical
Reasoning section of the LSAT
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In
other words, if the premises are true, then the conclusion must also be true
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In a deductive argument, if the premises are true, the
conclusion must be true, but if the premises are false, the conclusion may be false
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Inductive arguments are based on
observations, evidence, or examples
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For example, if you observe that all the swans you have seen are white, you may
infer that all swans are white, but this is not necessarily true
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It will help you identify the argument’s strength and whether the
conclusion follows logically from the premises
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In summary, understanding the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning is crucial
for understanding and evaluating arguments on the LSAT
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In contrast, inductive reasoning is a form
where the conclusion is likely to follow from the premises but not necessarily so
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Understand the importance of counter-examples and how to use them to evaluate the
strength of an argument
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Identifying and using counter-examples can help you evaluate the
strength of an argument by showing that the conclusion does not necessarily follow from the
premises
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They are
specific scenarios or situations that contradict the conclusion of an argument
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For example, if an argument claims that all swans are white, a counter-example would be a
black swan
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Therefore, the argument is not valid
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For
instance, if an argument claims that all dogs are friendly, a counter-example would be a dog
known to be aggressive
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Therefore, the argument is not valid
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By identifying counter-examples, you can show that the conclusion does not
necessarily follow from the premises, and therefore the argument is not valid
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They are specific scenarios or situations that contradict the conclusion of an argument
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Understanding the
importance of counter-examples and how to use them will help you in the Logical Reasoning
section of the LSAT, as well as in real-life situations where you need to evaluate arguments
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Practice identifying and analyzing logical fallacies
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There are many different types of logical fallacies, and recognizing them can help you evaluate
the strength of an argument by identifying errors in reasoning
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There are
many different types of logical fallacies, and recognizing them can help you evaluate the
strength of an argument by identifying errors in reasoning
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For example, "You can't trust his argument; he’s just a politician
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For
example, "I never said that all swans are white, but you're still wrong
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For
example, "You can either agree with me, or you're against me
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For
example, "All swans are white because they are white swans
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Identifying and analyzing logical fallacies is an essential skill for the Logical
Reasoning section of the LSAT and in real-life situations where you need to evaluate arguments
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There are many different types of logical fallacies, and recognizing them can help
you evaluate the strength of an argument by identifying errors in reasoning
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6
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Learn to identify and evaluate evidence in an argument: Evidence is the information or facts
used to support an argument’s conclusion
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Evidence is the information or facts used to support an argument’s conclusion
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When evaluating evidence, it is important to consider the following:

Relevance: Is the evidence relevant to the conclusion of the argument?
Sufficiency: Is the evidence sufficient to support the conclusion of the argument?
Credibility: Is the evidence credible or trustworthy?
Reliability: Is the evidence reliable or consistent with other known facts?
For example, suppose an argument claims that eating a certain type of fruit can prevent a
certain disease
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Relevant evidence would be a scientific study linking the
consumption of that fruit and the prevention of that disease
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Credible
evidence would be a study conducted by a reputable institution or a group of experts in the
field
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Identifying and evaluating evidence is essential for understanding and evaluating an argument
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In summary, evidence is the information or facts used to support an argument’s conclusion
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It is important to consider the evidence's relevance, sufficiency,
credibility, and reliability when evaluating it
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7
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Practice diagramming and symbolizing logical arguments: Diagramming and symbolizing logical
arguments can help you better understand an argument's structure and reasoning
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Diagramming and symbolizing logical arguments is a technique that can help you better
understand an argument's structure and reasoning
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For example, a basic diagram of an argument might look like this:

Premise 1 -------------> Conclusion
Premise 2 ------------->
Premise 3 ------------->

This diagram shows that three premises support the conclusion
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For example, an argument might be represented as:

Premise 1 (P1) + Premise 2 (P2) + Premise 3 (P3) = Conclusion (C)

This representation shows that the conclusion is the result of combining the three premises
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It helps you to organize your thoughts and to analyze the reasoning more effectively
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It helps you to identify the main conclusion and premises of the argument
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It uses symbols and diagrams to
represent the premises, conclusion, and relationships between them
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This technique is important for the Logical Reasoning section of the LSAT and understanding
and evaluating arguments in real-life situations
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Understand the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions
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Understanding the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions
is important when evaluating arguments that rely on these concepts
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Necessary conditions are conditions that
must be met for something to happen, while sufficient conditions are enough to make
something happen
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" In this argument, a medical degree is necessary to become a doctor
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Imagine an argument stating, "If you want to become a doctor, you must have a medical degree
and pass the medical board exam
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With both of these,
becoming a doctor is possible
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" In this argument, being intelligent is unnecessary for becoming a doctor, as
many intelligent people are not doctors
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" In this argument, passing the medical board exam is a sufficient condition
for becoming a doctor
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In summary, understanding the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions is
important when evaluating arguments that rely on these concepts
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Identifying these conditions in an argument can help you evaluate the
argument's strength by determining whether the conclusion follows from the premises or if
other conditions or factors may be necessary or sufficient
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Understand the concept of conditional statements and how to evaluate them: Conditional
statements express a relationship between two events, such as "if A, then B
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Conditional statements express a relationship between two events, such as "if A, then B
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Understanding and evaluating conditional statements is
important when analyzing arguments that use them
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" In this argument, the conditional statement is "if we increase funding for
education, then test scores will improve
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"

To evaluate this argument, you would need to consider whether the antecedent is likely to
happen and whether there is evidence to support the claim that the consequent will happen if
the antecedent does happen
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Another example of a conditional statement is "If it rains, the streets will be wet
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" To evaluate this
argument, you need to consider whether it is likely to rain and whether the evidence supports
the claim that the streets will be wet if it does rain
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Conditional statements express a
relationship between two events
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To evaluate
these statements, you must consider whether the antecedent is likely to happen and whether
there is evidence to support the claim that the consequent will happen if the antecedent does
happen
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10
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Learn to recognize and evaluate the use of language in arguments, such as ambiguity and
vagueness: Language can significantly impact an argument's strength
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Ambiguity refers to a need for clarity in the meaning of
words or phrases in an argument, while vagueness refers to using too broad or imprecise terms
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Recognizing
and evaluating the use of language, such as ambiguity and vagueness, can help you better
understand and evaluate an argument
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For
example, an argument that states "All animals are mammals" could be ambiguous because it is
unclear whether the argument refers to all animals that currently exist or all animals that have
ever existed
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Vagueness refers to the use of terms that are too broad or imprecise
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This
vagueness makes it difficult to evaluate the strength of the argument
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When you encounter an argument that uses ambiguous or vague

language, you should consider whether the argument can be made more clear or more specific
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In summary, learning to recognize and evaluate the use of language in arguments, such as
ambiguity and vagueness, is important when evaluating the strength of an argument
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Recognizing and evaluating these types of
language can help you better understand an argument, which is essential for understanding the
argument
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Practice analyzing and evaluating arguments, such as causal and analogy
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Analyzing and evaluating different arguments,
such as causal and analogy, can help you better understand and evaluate the reasoning behind
different arguments
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Learn to recognize and evaluate the use of evidence in an argument
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Recognizing and evaluating the use of evidence in an argument is
essential for understanding and evaluating the argument as a whole
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Understand how to identify and evaluate the strength of inferences in an argument
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Identifying and
evaluating the strength of inferences in an argument is essential for understanding and
evaluating the argument
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Practice applying the concepts and techniques learned to real LSAT Logical Reasoning
questions
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To improve your performance, it is
important to practice applying the concepts and techniques learned to real LSAT Logical
Reasoning questions
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Get enough practice and use LSAT prep materials to improve your performance
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The more
you practice, the more familiar you will become with the questions and reasoning patterns that
are likely to appear on the test

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