Principle | LSAT Logical Reasoning

Principle questions in the Logical Reasoning section ask you to support an argument with a general rule or ask you to find an argument that conforms to such a rule.
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[@alexissmith2854]

You are so helpful and thorough. Your videos on conditional logic truly allowed me to understand where I was going wrong and how to obtain the right answers. Your the best!

[@malshi_nathasha]

Thank you so much for all of these. They were so clear and helped me understand each of the question types! ❤️

[@idealistthoughts3280]

Best playlist for LR, easily.

[@alannaroman74]

This videos are the best. Thank you!

[@DavidandGoliath448]

Thank you a lot! It helps building the concept of principle question type

[@rightdubz]

principle has been my weakness, until now. thank you!

[@annawasco1461]

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[@riyakapoor3218]

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[@martini87c]

Another great lesson! I picked answer choice E however my reasoning as to how I arrived at this answer wasn't the same as yours. Would you say that's a problem when you pick the correct answer but your reasoning process is different? Thank you for your reply !

[@LSATLab]

It can really depend. In many cases, we won't mention every possible problem with a wrong answer (we'll try to highlight the feature that we think is easiest/quickest to spot, or maybe the feature that is most emblematic or recurring for that question type). So in cases where the student ALSO has a valid reason, just not one we mentioned, then I wouldn't say it's a problem. However, there still might be a learning opportunity for the student. If you think that OUR reason for eliminating is easier/quicker to see, then you'd probably be better off disqualifying an answer for our reason, rather than yours. It's pretty common that students will have a more thoughtful, nuanced, conversational reason to get rid of an answer, which is inherently fine but might take more time and processing power to arrive at. Meanwhile, we jaded "experts" are seeing something quick and superficial that allows us to get rid of an answer without even fully mentally engaging with it. The only time where "your own reason" would be a problem is if it's not a valid reason. So you can trust your gut if you think, "Okay, we could also eliminate it for my reason, but I see their point". Or if you're in doubt about whether your reason is valid, then ask people, so that you can get some clarity on whether it's a valid way to disqualify.

[@martini87c]

@@LSATLab thank you once again for this clarification!

[@49marquito]

best in the game

[@eddy-fw7hv]

I got one wrong but that’s cuss my reading comp sucks but I mean I just need more practice lol

[@nezsa628]

Does principle belong to a family? From your videos I am aware of 3 families but, I just came across principle =( and now I am curious if this belongs to any family or is this alone?

[@LSATLab]

PRINCIPLE is really just a twist they can throw onto existing tasks. The most common type of PRINCIPLE question is Strengthen+Principle (which of the following principles, if valid, most justifies the conclusion) 2nd most common might be Necessary Assumption + Principle (the argument above most conforms to which of the following principles) There is also one where we Strengthen the Application of a principle and one where we pick a principle that VIOLATES the reasoning (more like Weaken). So those four versions show up in the Assumption Family. There's a Principle variation that shows up in Function Family, which is basically a Parallel Reasoning question (which of the following illustrates a principle most similar to the principle illustrated in the argument above) And there are a couple Principle tasks in the Inference Family ... (which answer best conforms to the principle cited above) ... I call this "Apply the Principle". They provide us with a principle and we have to select which answer choice obeys its rules. And then there's a Most Supported task where it says something like "the situation above most conforms to which of the following propositions/generalizations". This is the only time when they say "proposition/generalization" instead of principle, but it basically acts like a Most Supported question. Sorry for the super complicated nerdy answer, but Principle does show up as a twist in all three families.

[@Ashtels]

@@LSATLab For the question stems you mentioned here, the Necessary Assumption and Most Supported stems sound too similar. Is there a way of differentiating between the two?

[@LSATLab]

@@Ashtels Really good question Ashley. Look for language in the question stem that tells you whether the stimulus was a set of statements or an argument. If you're looking for a principle illustrated in the statements, that's a most supported question, If you're looking for a principle illustrated in the reasoning, that's a necessary assumption question.