Logical Reasoning · Paradox

PrepTest 129 · Section 3 · Question 4

Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Paradox (Explain the Result)

The one idea it tests

A reward that should help performance ended up hurting it, and you need a fact about how the reward changes behavior.

The basic logic

Note that the groups were random and judging was blind, so the difference is real. The right answer shows something about the reward-seekers that leads them to produce work judges rate lower.

Tiny words that decide it

“even though”
“on average”
“but”

Playground logic

Patty: one group of kids was promised a gold sticker for the best hamster maze, and their mazes were rated worse. Priya's handshake fact: kids chasing a prize copy the safe, boring design, so the reward itself pulls quality down.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Gold Sticker Maze Contest

Ms. Rivera split the class into two random teams to build cardboard mazes for Mr. Whiskers' cousin, the class hamster. She told one team, "The best maze wins a gold sticker!" She told the other team nothing. Then Grandpa judged every maze without knowing which team built it. Marcus was sure the sticker team would win. "Stickers make people try harder!" But the sticker team's mazes scored lower on average. Marcus was stunned. Priya watched the replay in her head. "The sticker team all built the same straight-line maze they saw last year," she said. "They played it safe so they wouldn't lose. The other team had fun and tried wild tunnels and ramps." Lulu wrote it down: chasing a prize can make people copy instead of create.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Two random groups of students built hamster mazes. The first group heard that the best maze would earn a gold sticker; the other group was told nothing. A judge who did not know which group built which maze scored the sticker group's mazes lower on average.

Suppose each choice is true. Which one does the most to resolve the surprising result?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Bonus Bakers

A bakery owner sued her consultant. "You told me to offer a bonus for the tastiest new cookie. My bonus team did worse than the team with no bonus! Blind tasters said so." Mr. Whitfield called a witness, the head taster. "The bonus team all baked plain chocolate chip," she said. "They were afraid to lose with anything strange. The other team tried lemon-ginger and maple crunch." Mr. Whitfield turned to the judge. "Your Honor, the bonus made them cautious, and cautious cookies are dull. That explains the result."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 129, Section 3, Question 4 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

State the surprise in one line: the group that should have done better did worse. Note the controls (random groups, blind judging) so you can ignore answers that blame luck or the judges. Then look for a fact about how the reward changed what the reward group actually did. Reject answers that apply to both groups equally.