LSAT Prep - Logic Games

Hello!

Today I thought I would relax with a short post on fun ways to prepare for the LSAT. Logical Reasoning typically gives people headaches because it is an entirely new type of question. A good way to get into the right mindset and familiarize yourself with these types of questions are logic games.

You may remember these games from elementary school, they, much like on the LSAT, involve basic rules (one person per day, one color per house, one person per house) and then provide several statements, the information from which you are to use to complete the table.

A good site to find these and more like them is here, at Puzzle Paradise. They are free, and vary in difficulty. This site has a good interface for solving online, and the option to print puzzles to take with you, or if you feel it would be better practice to use pencil and paper, as on the LSAT.

How are these useful? They give good practice for reading the conditions and drawing conclusions. For example, if the statement is that "Jack gave his presentation before Julie, but after the presentation on frogs," you can conclude that Jack was NOT in the first or last time slot, but also that Julie was NOT first or second, since she was after Jack, and that the presentation on Frogs was NOT last or second to last. Also, you can conclude that neither Jack nor Julie presented on Frogs. This kind of insight requires practice, and these fun games can help you learn it without doing repetitive bookwork.

Also, these games can help with diagraming and charting. This site provide some diagrams, but others (such as time based ones) are equally helpful.

Be warned though, that this should not be taken as a substitute for actual LSAT logic game practice. LSAT games tend to have you "backing up." They will give you five statements, then each question will have a sixth condition that is hypothetical. You may need to remove information to complete the next problem. Also, the LSAT gives lots of choices such as "If Frogs were presented by a Male student, what can you say about Tuesday's presentation?" These oddball ones may have more than one correct answer, such as "Tuesday was either Julie or Tammy presenting either Shrimp or Snakes." Practice for these types does not come from logic games with one correct answer.

Have you used alternative prep for the LSAT? Any experts out there want to weigh in on the use of games as practice?