Prethinking

Question

Hi Gurus,

Need your valuable inputs on Pre thinking as a strategy:

1. For what all question types is it advisable?(have used it for assumption questions and found it to be really working)
2. What could be the demerits of this strategy?

Regards

Argha

BeckyRobinsonTPR · Answer

If by pre-thinking you mean assessing what the answer should be before you look at the answers to the question then I would say most questions in verbal benefit from pre-thinking. There are some questions that will not fit the format, such as Except questions and some general inference questions on the Reading comprehension. It is very important to know what you are looking for in an answer so that you can more easily evaluate the part of an answer choice which makes it incorrect. Verbal is almost as logical as math and deserves to be looked at in the same way. The disadvantage of this approach comes when a test taker looks to create too specific an answer before going to the answer choices - you are only looking to get a general idea of what you want the answer to be, not to actually craft the answer. You must also remember to stay flexible when reading answers and not to be too fast to eliminate something that is in the ballpark of your idea.

Another advantage to this technique is that when you are reviewing questions you can determine whether you had the correct thinking but picked a wrong answer or if you had incorrect thinking for the answer. this type of review is invaluable in helping you to craft your approach to questions

Another advantage to this technique is that when you are reviewing questions you can determine whether you had the correct thinking but picked a wrong answer or if you had incorrect thinking for the answer. this type of review is invaluable in helping you to craft your approach to questions

KyleWiddison · Answer

I'd really like to know what you mean by Pre thinking.

Thanks,
KW

argha · Answer

Hi,

By Pre thinking I mean trying to predict the  probable answer  before looking at the options and as one is reading the stimulus.

Regards

Argha

KyleWiddison · Answer

OK - I understand your question. I agree with Becky that you have to be careful with trying to think up with "THE" answer. As you are working through the question you will naturally have thoughts about what the answer could be, but it's incredibly difficult to actually predict what the answer will be or especially when you consider how many ways that correct answer could be worded. If you have a general sense for what the answer should look like, you should be able to identify it as you are going through the answer choices.

THAT SAID, answering verbal questions is much more an activity of eliminating wrong answers rather than choosing the right answer. As you go through the answer choices your "pre-thinking" may help you recognize the choices that aren't correct so you can eliminate them until you are left with the final, correct answer.

KW

mnazari · Answer

I recommend using it on all questions. With practice, you get better at prethinking. Eventually it helps you better solve questions.

Prethinking

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