MCAT Verbal Reasoning Skills

AAMC provides the following list of skills evaluated by the MCAT.

  1. Comprehension
    1. Identify the central concern or thesis of the passage.
    2. Identify the reasons or evidence offered in support of a thesis.
    3. Identify background knowledge contained in the passage or question that is relevant to a particular interpretation.
    4. Determine, from the context, the meaning of significant terminology or vocabulary used in the passage.
    5. Recognize an accurate paraphrase of complex information presented in the passage.
    6. Identify comparative relationships among ideas or pieces of information contained in the passage.
    7. Identify stated or unstated assumptions contained in the passage.
    8. Recognize appropriate questions of clarification.

  2. Evaluation
    1. Judge the soundness of an argument or a step of reasoning presented in the passage.
    2. Judge the credibility of a source.
    3. Judge whether a conclusion follows necessarily from the reasons given in the passage.
    4. Appraise the strength of the evidence for a generalization, conclusion, or claim.
    5. Distinguish between supported and unsupported claims.
    6. Judge the relevance of information to an argument or claim.

  3. Application
    1. Predict a result on the basis of passage content and specific facts about a hypothetical situation.
    2. Use given information to solve a specified problem.
    3. Identify the probable cause of a particular event or result based on information presented.
    4. Determine the implications of conclusions or results for real-world situations.
    5. Recognize the scope of application of hypotheses, explanations, and conclusions.
    6. Identify a general theory or model based on given information.

  4. Incorporation of new information
    1. Judge the bearing of new evidence on conclusions presented in the passage.
    2. Recognize methods or results that would challenge hypotheses, models, or theories given in the passage.
    3. Determine how a conclusion from the passage can be modified to be made consistent with additional information.
    4. Recognize plausible alternative hypotheses or solutions.
From my point-of-view the above list is of little value to guide preparation for the exam. The best preparation seems to be familiarization with practice tests. Correct answers are almost never quotations from the article, rather expect cleverly disguised "re-statements". Steel yourself for the MCAT's nasty distracters. Flowers & Silver recognize:

The Mangler
which using words very close to the passage actually distorts the truth.

The Seducer
which using words pulled from common, shared beliefs distorts the point of view of the passage.

The Irrelevant Truth
is recognized as true, but does it really answer the question?

The Absolute
uses words that imply "without exception": it is hard to make such statements true.

Unlike the science tests we cannot pretend to prepare for the MCAT verbal reasoning skills test by re-learning content. The content can be anything under the sun. Instead you must focus on critical reading skills. Critical reading skills are as important as science knowledge for the medical professional. However, echoing Flowers & Silver, let me warn you that "speed skimming" skills appropriate for this multiple choice exam may be inappropriate for obtaining medical knowledge. However, since you must pass the MCAT as it is rather than how it might be, recognize that time will be short on these tests. Tricks, such as, jotting an outline of the article in the margin, may speed look-up which will be required by many questions.