LSAT Mixology

Mixing It Up

Studying just one LSAT question type during a study session is valuable because it gives you the focus and repetition you need to commit a process to memory. But, if you only study one question type at a time, you will probably find yourself struggling to deploy that process consistently when you do timed sections or tests. Why is that? Because the act of deploying a process actually starts with two different acts that don’t get trained in one-topic practice: identification and retrieval.

The act of identification starts with the question stem: in order to deploy a strong process for a Paradox question, you have to identify that you are looking at a Paradox question.

When you do one-topic practice, which we’ll call “blocked” practice, you always know what question type is coming, so you can easily zone out and not think much about the question stem.

The act of retrieval starts after you identify the type of question. It’s when you dig back into your long term memory and recall what the steps for a strong process are. Blocked practice doesn’t train your retrieval muscles because your process for that question type is always front of mind.

Often, when students slay blocked practice but struggle with sections or tests, part of the reason is that they have not adequately trained their identification and retrieval skills.

Exercises to Build ID / Retrieval Skills

Make Some Flashcards

On the front, don’t put the question type; if you do that, you won’t be training the act of identification! Instead, put an example question stem that you will have to work to identify. On the back, put the question type, a quick recap of the steps you want to deploy, and anything you want to look out for as you read the passage or the answers. Here’s an example:

• Front: Which of the following most undermines the psychologist's conclusion?

• Back: Weaken. Find Conclusion and Evidence. Look for Cause and Effect, Comparisons, and Plans/Recommendations. If it’s a Causal argument, attack the conclusion’s plausibility or point out an alternate cause. If it’s Comparative, are the two things even fair to compare? For Plans/Recommendations, are there negative consequences that make the juice not worth the squeeze? The best answer will have the worst impact so strong answers are good.

The act of writing out the process helps move information to our long term memory, so make multiple cards for each question type with different example question stems on the front. Keep them handy to practice identifying and retrieving whenever you have some down time, and add to your decks as you study new question types.

Not sure what you’d put on your flashcards? Don’t worry, we have some ideas! Check out this breakdown of the must knows for every LR question type.

Mixed Practice Sets

Our Practice Set builder lets you filter for the question types you’ve studied and make mixed practice sets that don’t include any question types you haven’t gotten to yet. You can also make mixed practice sets of questions you missed or flagged right from your question history. This is a great way to build in some extra review to your study schedule while also training your identification and retrieval muscles.

Mixed Drilling

Our Drill Engine has two different settings: Filtered and Adaptive. If you only want to drill question types you’ve already studied, use the Filtered setting. If you want to drill every question type, the Adaptive setting will pick questions at the appropriate level based on your analytics.

The Bottom Line

Blocked practice is great for building a strong process, but thoughtful mixed practice is necessary to ensure that you can identify the right process, remember it fully, and deploy it successfully on test day.

Want to experiment with these features and more? Sign up here! Happy Studying, and we look forward to seeing you around the Lab!