kimmylouie

I have this weird thing where when I review it, I immediately see what I did wrong.

Not only that, but also i pick answers that are not supported by the passage. When I review my answers, I see it IMMEDIATELY

It's bugging me, not only because of my suckish low score, but also because I keep on seeing what I did wrong immediately. What can I do to prevent it???? It's the only thin preventing me from a 750+

MasterYster

This is the most hilarious post I've seen in forever. Its called an unforced error, we all make them. Its very easy to see what you did wrong once you know what the "actual" answer is. You need to simply just keep practicing and mentally stay judicious on what answer you're picking

kimmylouie

That's part of the reason, but seriously, if you saw the answer I placed, you'd be waddafreak-ing.

And I'm glad I gave you a good laugh ;p

MasterYster

The part that is funny is that you claim that this is an unfavorable trait. Its something that we all have. The fact that you're blaming it on some sort of odd genetic trait is only going to make you do worse rather than better. Every time you review your wrong answers you shouldn't be all like "OH OF COURSE" but you rather you should diagnostic your own reasoning process.

Ask yourself why you picked that particular answer. Once you figure that out, attempt to fix that thinking process and the next time you take a SAT Practice keep what you wrote down near you or in your head while you do the SAT.

MathGuy777

^ lol, no offense, but a little harsh? I dunno, maybe you're just being honest.
But there are many things I do agree with MasterYster.
These mistakes happen ALL the time, EVERYWHERE -_-
Unfortunately, none of us can do much about it.
But be grateful for all your traits. Don't you think that it would be much better than not understanding an answer EVEN when you read the solution ^^
GOOD LUCK!

kimmylouie

Oh that. Yeah, I like my traits.

TigerSteps

It is normal to instantly understand which answer is correct when you know which one is correct. It means the problem is that you are not concentrated or attentive enough while you are doing the test. You should train yourself to be very conscious of the text and questions you are reading. At least this is what I think the problem is.

Our brain tries to do everything in the easiest way, putting efforts into understanding every word and sentence is considered wasteful for it; therefore we need to train our brain to pay attention. Most people just read so it would be considered read but they do not really get all the details, just a vague basic idea.

I have this problem too so what I plan to do is while reading the passage I will mark what is the main idea of every paragraph. This way I will keep track of what the author is saying and what devices he/she is using to tell the idea. I hope I will get more while reading like this. I tend to lose myself on double passage.

Wood5440

The SAT is a reasoning test, at least to some degree. People make certain common mistakes when reasoning, particularly when under stress. We revert to using 'low effort' thinking, like picking answers that have something (a word or an idea) that sounds familiar. The test writers know of these common mistakes and write wrong answer choices that reflect them. They call these wrong answer choices 'distracters'. So, for example, a CR distracter may repeat a prominent word from the passage in a wrong answer, while the correct answer choice will use a synonym for that word. Similarly, a distracter may use the topic sentence of the last paragraph as a wrong answer choice in a question asking for the main idea of the entire passage. The word stands out, the idea is fresh in your memory, so you pick them.

Your vulnerability to these distracters can vary. If you are warned about them, if you are relaxed and vigilant, you may easily indentify them as wrong choices. On the other hand, if you are tired or in a hurry, you may fall prey easily.

You may have some personal triggers that cause you to slip into low effort thinking. High emotions, overconfidence, fatigue, ambiguous answer choices, other distractions in the room, even liking or disliking the subject of the passage, whatever. If you can identify them, you may be able to be on your guard. Learn about the kinds of distracters, analyze your 'I can't believe I did that' moments looking for triggers, be aware of your own emotional state as you take the test, and always ask yourself whether you picked an answer because of something you know or because of something you felt.