LSAT Prep Course Bolsters Brain Function, Berkeley Researchers Find
Taking a prep course heightens a person's reasoning abilities, even on tasks completely unrelated to the law school entrance exam, according to new research.
October 19, 2018 at 02:20 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The Recorder
Want to train your brain to synthesize information and reach conclusions quickly? Try an LSAT prep course.
Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley have spent the past five years using the Law School Admissions Test to study the brain and how people learn. Their research found that taking an LSAT prep course—specifically focusing on the logic games section—bolsters subjects' ability to reason in areas unrelated to the exam.
Put another way, the benefits of studying for the LSAT go beyond the test itself: The test prep process actually bolsters the structure and function of the brain. Further research concluded that the eye movements of LSAT takers completing reasoning tasks provides more information about their learning and decision-making process than does neuroimaging technology such as MRIs. Their most recent study was published Thursday in Science of Learning, a Nature Partner Journal.
Berkeley neuroscience professor Silvia Bunge said that when she became interested in looking at whether you can train the brain in reasoning skills, she considered all the standardized admission tests as possible subjects. But the LSAT stood apart for its focus on reasoning skills. (Analytical and logical reasoning comprise two of the LSAT's three sections. Reading comprehension is the third.)
“We decided that was the one that most heavily emphasized reasoning,” said Bunge, who co-authored the most recent study.
In the initial phase of their research, the Berkeley team looked for differences in the reasoning abilities of those who completed Blueprint Test Preparation's LSAT course and those who took no prep course. The subjects who took the prep course were faster to complete a visual reasoning task wholly unrelated to the LSAT's text-based questions. Brain scans of the test subjects also found that studying for the LSAT for three months bolstered the connections between the right and left sides of the brain.
“We showed that the benefits of studying for the LSAT go beyond the LSAT itself,” Bunge said. “But we didn't feel like we had a good handle on how, exactly, people are improving their reasoning.”
For the second phase of their study, the Berkeley researchers tracked the eye movements of those who completed a 33-hour online Kaplan Test Prep LSAT course. They concluded that eye movements—such as rapid movements or fixed gazes—actually reveal more about the learning and decision-making process than do brain scans. One group studied only for the logic games section, while the other studied only for the reading comprehension section. When faced with a visually based reasoning task, the logic games group was able to encode and integrate information faster than the reading comprehension group, their eye movements showed.
“One possibility is that people, after training, get faster at identifying the relevant pieces of information,” Bunge said. “The other thing is that it would take them less time to extract the necessary information to make their inference.”
But prepping for the LSAT is no guarantee of a lifetime of heightened reasoning skills.
“We're not saying these changes are forever,” Bunge said. “Our brain is constantly changing as a function of what we're experiencing over time. If you practice for the LSAT and spend the next year just watching TV, it's not going to be the case that you have sharpened reasoning skills.”
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllJudge Orders Rudy Giuliani to Court Amid Allegations He's Hiding Assets Under Receivership
'A Regressive Institution': SDNY Judge Rakoff Delivers Pointed Remarks on SCOTUS in Recent Appearance
2 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Infant Formula Judge Sanctions Kirkland's Jim Hurst: 'Overtly Crossed the Lines'
- 2Guarantees Are Back, Whether Law Firms Want to Talk About Them or Not
- 3Election 2024: Nationwide Judicial Races and Ballot Measures to Watch
- 4How I Made Practice Group Chair: 'If You Love What You Do and Put the Time and Effort Into It, You Will Excel,' Says Lisa Saul of Forde & O'Meara
- 5Abbott, Mead Johnson Win Defense Verdict Over Preemie Infant Formula
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250