Tricks of the Trade

The individuals who construct standardized tests are called psychometricians.
Although this job title sounds ominous, breaking this word into its two parts
reveals a great deal about the nature of the LSAT. Although we could make a
number of jokes about the psycho part, this portion of the word refers to
psychology; the metrician portion relates to metrics or measurement. Thus, the
purpose of these individuals is to create a test that measures you in a precise,
psychological way. As part of this process, the makers of the LSAT carefully
analyze reams of data from every test administration in order to assess the
tendencies of test takers. As Sherlock Holmes observed, “You can, for
example, never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with
precision what an average number will be up to.” By studying the actions of all
past test takers, the makers of the exam can reliably predict where you will be
most likely to make errors. Throughout this book we will reference those
pitfalls as they relate to specific question and reasoning types. For the
moment, we would like to highlight one mental trap you must avoid at all
times in any LSAT section: the tendency to dwell on past problems. Many
students fall prey to “answering” a problem, and then continuing to think
about it as they start the next problem. Obviously, this is distracting and
creates an environment where missing the next problem is more likely. When
you finish a problem, you must immediately put it out of your mind and move
to the next problem with 100% focus. If you are uncertain of your answer on
the previous problem, simply make a note in the test booklet and then return to
that problem later, if time allows. If you let your mind wander back to
previous problems, you fall into a deadly trap.