Analysing Your Mistakes

The single most productive VR activity is not practising more questions — it is systematically analysing the questions you got wrong. Every error contains information about your specific weaknesses, and addressing those weaknesses produces faster improvement than general practice ever can. This lesson provides a complete framework for error analysis that turns every mistake into a learning opportunity.

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The Error Analysis Framework

After each practice session, review every incorrect answer using this five-step process:

Step 1: What Did the Question Ask?

Identify the question type:

• TFC: True, False, or Can't Tell?
• Free-text: Specific detail, main idea, inference, author's tone, or other?

Step 2: What Did You Answer?

Record your answer and your reasoning at the time. If you cannot remember your reasoning, this is itself a problem — it means you were not applying the decision tree consciously.

Step 3: What Was the Correct Answer?

Read the correct answer and the explanation (if provided by your practice platform).

Step 4: Why Did You Get It Wrong?

This is the most important step. Categorise the error:

Error Category	Description	Example
Misread	You misread a word in the passage or statement	Missed "not" in the statement
Over-inference	You inferred something the passage did not actually say	Added causation where only correlation existed
Prior knowledge	You used information from outside the passage	Answered based on what you know about the topic
Quantifier error	You missed a change in quantifier (some → all, etc.)	Passage said "most", statement said "all"
Negation error	You were confused by negative phrasing	Double negative decoded incorrectly
Attribution error	You assigned a claim to the wrong source	Mixed up which group held which view
Paraphrase miss	You did not recognise a valid paraphrase	Different wording but same meaning
Time pressure	You would have answered correctly with more time	Rushed and did not check the passage
Scope error	You missed a change in scope (UK → global, 2019 → present)	Generalised beyond the passage's scope
Carelessness	You knew the answer but selected the wrong option	Clicked the wrong button

Step 5: What Will You Do Differently?

For each error, identify a specific action:

Error Category	Action
Misread	Slow down on statement reading; check for negatives
Over-inference	Apply the "must be true" test
Prior knowledge	Use the "alien" technique — pretend you know nothing
Quantifier error	Consciously compare quantifiers in passage and statement
Negation error	Practise the conversion technique
Attribution error	Use the attribution map for multi-viewpoint passages
Paraphrase miss	Build synonym vocabulary; practise paraphrase recognition
Time pressure	Practise faster scanning; set per-question limits
Scope error	Check who, where, when in both passage and statement
Carelessness	Build a confirmation habit — read your selection before confirming

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Tracking Errors Over Time

The Error Log

Maintain a running log of your errors across practice sessions:

Date	Question	My Answer	Correct Answer	Error Category	Action Taken
5 Mar	P3 Q2	True	Can't Tell	Over-inference	Apply must-be-true test
5 Mar	P5 Q1	False	Can't Tell	Prior knowledge	Check passage only
7 Mar	P2 Q3	True	False	Quantifier error	Compare quantifiers explicitly

Identifying Patterns

After 3–5 sessions (50–100 questions), review your error log for patterns:

Pattern	What It Tells You
Most errors are "True instead of Can't Tell"	You are over-inferring — practise the CT/True boundary
Most errors are "False instead of Can't Tell"	You are too aggressive in finding contradictions
Most errors are on specific-detail questions	Your scanning is not precise enough
Most errors occur on later passages	You are fatiguing or running out of time
Most errors involve one topic type (e.g., science)	You need more exposure to that passage type

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