September 2009 LSAT Section 1 Question 2

Psychologist: The best way to recall a certain word or name that one is having trouble remembering is to occupy one'...

OQ on July 14, 2018

The principle

What is the principle that underlies the arguement in the passage and how does it relate to the principle in answer D? Also, what question type is this? Is there any where that outlines the question types in each section of the logical reasoning questions on these diagnostic exams?

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Mehran on July 15, 2018

Hi @OQ, thanks for your post. Our analytics track your progress, as do your score reports. To see how you are performing overall by question type, select "Analytics" from our left-side menu. If you want to assess performance by question type on a specific diagnostic exam, input your answers to score that exam, and then review the score report that is generated.

Let's examine this particular question. As always, let's start with the stimulus.

The stimulus presents an argument. The psychologist's conclusion is that the best way to recall a certain word or name one's having trouble remembering is, basically, to distract yourself ("to occupy one's mind with other things"). Why? The premise in support of this conclusion is "often the more we strive to remember . . . the less likely it becomes that the word will come to mind."

We might paraphrase the underlying principle as: "distract yourself from that which you are striving to do, and you may find that it is easier to accomplish that which you are striving to accomplish."

Answer choice (D) parallels this principle. Distracting yourself from falling asleep
may be the best way to fall asleep quickly.

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any additional questions.