The same task triggers different

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsMost Supported

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Stimulus

The same task triggers different levels of awareness of one’s surroundings, called environmental awareness, in different individuals. Mathematical puzzles, for example, cause most people to increase such an awareness. Some people—those who formulate the answer visually, imagining the numbers in their mind’s eye—will, in an attempt to freeze the picture, experience a are signaling a rest at the end of every stage of problem solving.

What this question is testing

Most Supported

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question

Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the

Answer choices

Correct79% picked this
There are some people for whom mathematical puzzles do not cause an increase in their
Why this is right
The main clause of that long gross second sentence is that "some people...experience a decrease in environmental awareness while solving the puzzle." That proves that there are some people for whom puzzles do not cause an increased level of awareness.
Skill tested: Most Supported · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
79%
Unsupported Comparison8% picked this
People who visually formulate answers differ from other problem solvers in that the former are
The difference between those who visually formulate answers and those who don't is that the visual formulators experience a decrease in environmental awareness, whereas others experience an increase. We're never told in absolute terms that one group is aware of their surroundings and another is unaware.
8%
Unsupported Comparison3% picked this
People tend to be more aware of their surroundings when solving mathematical problems than when
Mathematical puzzles are given as an example, but we're never given information that lets us compare mathematical problems vs. non-mathematical problems.
3%
Too Strong: only6% picked this
Mathematical problem solvers who rely on visual techniques become aware of their surroundings only during
The "only" in this answer should make us suspicious right out of the gate. None of the statements in the stimulus are conditional, so it's highly unlikely that our answer would be that strong. This is also a bit of a word salad: the information we get about visual techniques in claim 2 isn't related to the concept of rest in claim 3.
6%
Too Strong: requires4% picked this
Mathematical problem solving requires frequent periods of rest in the form of increased awareness of
Like D, this answer is conditional. That means it's highly unlikely to be correct if the stimulus is not conditional. This stimulus tells us what mathematical problem solving causes, but it doesn't ever tell us what it requires.
4%

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