alternatives to the negation test for NA questions? Forum

[cavalier2015]

i'm working on the necessary assumption packet and while the negation test helps quite a bit, I notice it takes me too long.

do you guys have a different or amended method you follow for NA questions?

[CFC1524]

Spot the assumption before moving to the answer choices. That's the best (and most efficient) way of doing things. This requires a close reading of the stimulus, with special emphasis given to the gap between the premise and the conclusion.

Doing a lot of NA questions over and over will also help. Necessary assumptions have a certain feel to them (a feeling that is slightly different than sufficient assumptions), so the more practice you have the better you'll get at spotting the answer.

SA strengthen the argument (i.e. they completely close the gap between the premise and the conclusion). NA don't really strengthen the argument, they just prevent the argument from collapsing. If you don't assume a particular NA, then you're argument is dead in the water (this is why the negation test works in the first place). Notice how this isn't really true for a particular SA.

Negation can be handy if you're unsure between two answers, but, like you said, I think it takes up too much time to be used as someone's primary method of tackling NA questions.

[cavalier2015]

The types of gaps I would be looking for in a NA is the same as those I would be looking for in a SA?

[haroldton86]

The types of gaps I would be looking for in a NA is the same as those I would be looking for in a SA?

Yes. Flaw, principle, suffice assumption, necessity assumption, weaken, strengthen all have the same sorts of gaps. There is some sort of implicit/explicit assumption in between the premises used to support the conclusion and the conclusion itself. A lot of times the argument will fail to mention something, state something is a cause when it hasn't been proven yet, falsely equate different terms, etc.

About 90% of SA's have a false equivocation. So be on the lookout for extraneous language for these.

Weaken questions have a lot of scope shifts in the stimulus. So be on the lookout for that.

Get familiar with the classical flaws too. They always show up on the exam and are very tempting. If you know what they are, you won't be tempted by them.

example: "the conclusion is self-contradictory". This answer always looks appealing when there is just not something right about the argument, but you can't just pinpoint it. However, it's usually wrong. Another one is "presumes what is sets out to prove". Usually wrong too. But this one is very easy to identify if you understand circular reasoning. Powerscore lays out all these flaws pretty well and some other common type issues in assumption questions. Check it out.

Good luck!

[BPlaura]

Spot the assumption before moving to the answer choices. That's the best (and most efficient) way of doing things. This requires a close reading of the stimulus, with special emphasis given to the gap between the premise and the conclusion.

Doing a lot of NA questions over and over will also help. Necessary assumptions have a certain feel to them (a feeling that is slightly different than sufficient assumptions), so the more practice you have the better you'll get at spotting the answer.

SA strengthen the argument (i.e. they completely close the gap between the premise and the conclusion). NA don't really strengthen the argument, they just prevent the argument from collapsing. If you don't assume a particular NA, then you're argument is dead in the water (this is why the negation test works in the first place). Notice how this isn't really true for a particular SA.

Negation can be handy if you're unsure between two answers, but, like you said, I think it takes up too much time to be used as someone's primary method of tackling NA questions.

Strongly agreed with this. I recommend always using the negation test for the answer you think is correct, just as a way to double-check; also, if you're down to a couple answer choices, it can be a helpful tool; but negating every answer choice definitely takes too long.

The types of gaps I would be looking for in a NA is the same as those I would be looking for in a SA?

You're definitely looking for similar gaps in each kind of question. It can be harder to spot the assumption in NA questions, since the assumption can sometimes be more subtle, but you're largely approaching each question in the same way (but then doing different things with them). CFC1524 did a great job explaining the difference, so I won't rehash that.

[cavalier2015]

"Powerscore lays out all these flaws pretty well and some other common type issues in assumption questions. Check it out."?

Where do i find this? i only see a section that has 5 categories of right answers.

[haroldton86]

"Powerscore lays out all these flaws pretty well and some other common type issues in assumption questions. Check it out."?

Where do i find this? i only see a section that has 5 categories of right answers.

Goto the "flaw" question type section of Powerscore Logical Reasoning bible. I have an older edition, but it should be there still in the newer ones.